Messages from No One
by serendipitymadness
Summary: When Hermione finds herself having a conversation with someone in a mysterious book that she bought, she soon finds herself immersed with the mysterious sender and makes it her mission to help them without realising just what she's gotten herself into.
1. Chapter 1

**I've had this idea for a Dramione story for a while now and I'm just getting around to getting some work done on it since I couldn't wait any longer. It takes place during their sixth year at Hogwarts and for the most part, the story between Draco and Hermione as well as their development is told through them unknowingly writing letters to each other. I don't wanna get sued for writing this so I don't own the Harry Potter franchise and I'm not profiting off this work in any way. Any similarities that you might find in this story and any other that you've read would be a coincidence. For the most part, the story between Hermione and Draco is told between their entries which can be differentiated by associating Draco's writing with words written in (bold) and Hermione's written in **_italics. _**Anyways, I hope that you guys enjoy the story and leave as much feedback as you want.**

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Every time Hermione saw Ron and Lavender snogging the living daylights out of each other she felt the overwhelming urge to throw up. It was disgusting, really, seeing their public displays of affection. What made Hermione even more annoyed was that she _knew _why Ron was shoving his relationship with Lavender in her face. She knew that it was because he was being a jealous arse after he'd found out about her snogging Viktor Krum, and Hermione was yet to understand how that was any of Ron's problem. Even if he was jealous, he had no right to get upset at her for kissing other people. If he wanted to be the one to kiss her then perhaps he should've realised his feelings for her sooner.

These days Hermione felt more anger towards Ron than anything which was making it harder for her to remember those romantic feelings that she used to have for him. As far as Hermione could recall, she'd first started noticing Ron in a different way back in third year. Arguing with Ron had affected her more than it did when she argued with Harry, and Hermione had missed being around him while he was accusing Crookshanks of murdering Scabbers. If anything, if Crookshanks had murdered Scabbers he would've been doing everyone a big favour. Then in fourth year, Hermione had been hurt yet again by Ron after he had only asked her to the Yule Ball as a last resort. He'd spent the whole night being a jealous arse and ruined her evening. He should've at least recognised some of those feelings back then, but Ron had always been slow at catching up with Hermione.

There hadn't really been any drama between them in fifth year which had been a relief. They'd become a lot closer together while working in Dumbledore's Army. By the time Hermione had gone to spend the rest of her summer at the Burrow, she had thought that maybe her and Ron were finally ready to begin a relationship. The smell that she'd found in Amortentia had only confirmed that what she felt for Ron was real and not just some silly schoolyard crush like she had initially thought it was. But all those hopes that she'd had for a potential romance had been shattered by Ron's jealousy and his subsequent relationship with Lavender Brown, of all people.

It had been weeks since Hermione and Ron had been in a polite conversation since every time they spoke, something hurtful always came out. Hermione supposed that if this was how they handled their disagreements when they weren't even a couple that it could only be disastrous if they were dating. In that time, Hermione threw herself into her schoolwork as Harry became even more obsessed with the elusive Half-Blood Prince. Now that Hermione was taking her N.E.W.T. classes, she needed to be even more diligent with her studying. Throwing herself into her work always helped Hermione distract herself from anything that was going, and she could certainly use some of that given everything that was going on. There was no denying that things were changing everyday out there with Voldemort getting more powerful each second. That thought terrified her. It made her terrified for Harry, knowing that her best friend would eventually have to face him.

Studying was like Hermione's coping mechanism. Most people would probably think that she was crazy for enjoying studying, but it helped. It gave her something else to think about, something else to throw herself into as she scribbled down notes to remember. Hermione had certainly increased her school supplies this year, knowing that their N.E.W.T. classes would be a lot more difficult than the standard ones. She'd purchased plenty of notebooks from Diagon Alley before school yard and had already gone through more than enough quills. Hermione was currently onto her tenth notebook, a red cover with a gold outline. It had reminded her of Gryffindor, so Hermione had happily bought it. She'd only started using it yesterday for Arithmancy and was already halfway done with it in the Gryffindor Common Room when Harry approached her.

"I'm going out for a fly with Ron and Ginny. Would you like to come with us?" Harry asked.

"I don't care what Ronald does in his spare time," Hermione muttered.

She could feel Harry rolling his eyes without looking up as he responded, "Alright then."

Sometimes Hermione felt bad for Harry. She knows how uncomfortable and frustrating it must be when two of your best friends were fighting and refused to be around each other. But hey, Hermione had put up with their drama in fourth year so it was only fair to share it around.

As Hermione turned the next page in her notebook, she found herself noticing how this next page was remarkably different from the others that she had written on. For starters, it was a lot more brown compared to the creamy pages that she had previously written on. Another thing that she noticed was how the edges of these pages had the same gold outline as the outside of the book. The exact details made Hermione curious, so she flipped through the rest of the pages in the book to see if any of them were like this, and they weren't. It didn't take long for Hermione to realise that she had reached the middle of the book, so she figured that it must've been some part of its design. That was, until she saw the words written in black ink appear on the page.

**I'm only now just starting to realise how royally fucked I am. I never should've allowed myself to be dragged into this fucking mess to begin with, but I can't go back and change it now. What the fuck am I going to do?**

All Hermione could do was gasp as she read the words that had certainly not been there moments ago. She certainly hadn't written them herself either so their sudden appearance was definitely quite a shock. Based on how the sentence was written, it seemed as though something or _someone _was writing from their perspective. This was just completely bizarre and unexplainable. Hermione sat there, frozen as she contemplated what she was supposed to do now. Acting purely on instinct, Hermione picked up her quill and wrote something down on the same page.

_You should watch your foul language._

**What the fuck is this? How come I just read something that I certainly didn't write?**

_I could ask the same question. I was just merely writing in this notebook until I reached these middle pages. Then I saw your foul language and I just had to see what this was about._

**Wait a minute… you saw what I just wrote? Does that mean you've seen anything else that I've written in here? Because if you have, I'll bloody kill you.**

_Relax, I haven't read anything apart from the first message that I responded to. There is no blood that needs to be shed._

**Well, this is fucking fantastic. When I bought this bloody book I never expected to have a conversation with someone else in it.**

It is then that the reality of the situation hit Hermione. She was literally having a conversation with someone in a _notebook_. Sure, muggles could communicate with people like this through phones and email, but not notebooks. Hermione's mind went back to second year when Harry found Tom Riddle's diary and was able to communicate with him through it. Panic surged through Hermione's mind as she realised that this could be something similar to that. She didn't want to get sucked into any book filled with Dark Magic.

_How is this happening? How are we communicating through a notebook? What kind of Dark Magic is this book filled with?_

**First of all, you basically asked your first questioned twice. Secondly, I haven't got the faintest idea of what this is or if it is even filled with Dark Magic. I purchased this book from Scribbulus Writing Instruments before the school year began. **

Hermione felt somewhat ticked off and embarrassed when whoever or _whatever _this was corrected her like they did. She then felt curious when they mentioned purchasing it from Scribbulus Writing Instruments in Diagon Alley since that was exactly where Hermione had purchased her book from as well.

_That is where I purchased this from as well._

**Yeah, I remembered seeing a red and gold book there as well but I loathed the colours on it so I just bought this one instead. It's supposed to be a part of some set or something since two other books were missing as well.**

_This was the last book available when I bought it. But I have to ask, are you really a person communicating with me through a notebook or are you some kind of spirit or something?_

**As far as I'm aware, I'm an actual person communicating with whoever you are through a notebook. I'm not a ghost or a spirit, though I'd certainly rather be one of them at the moment.**

The tone of whoever was writing in here both annoyed and concerned Hermione. She could just imagine whoever it was saying what they were saying with a bit of attitude, but that last bit concerned her. It almost sounded like this person _wanted _to be dead. But Hermione wouldn't be sucked in that easily. She had to find out more about whoever or whatever was writing to her.

_I'm not sure if I can believe you there. You see, I once came across something like this before in a notebook that allowed you to communicate with someone's soul. Needless to say, it was filled with Dark Magic so I am not going to take any chances with this._

**Like I said, I haven't got the faintest idea of how this is happening or what kind of magic this book possesses. When I bought it I thought I was buying an ordinary notebook. Turns out I wasn't.**

_Say I believe you; will you tell me what year it is that you're in? For all I know we could be communicating between the past and present while threatening to destroy everything as it is._

**Assuming you mean what year it is and not what school year I am in, the year is 1996.**

Hermione let out a small gasp while trying to contain herself. Just because they were in the same timeframe didn't mean anything. She had to ask more questions.

_That is the year that I am in as well. And considering how you phrased your answer, I am going to assume that you are a school student like me as well._

**Fascinating. It would almost be laughable if you attended Hogwarts as well.**

It is certainly laughable, because it appeared to be the case. That only made Hermione even more curious to know more about whatever this madness was. If she was really communicating with someone at Hogwarts through a notebook, then perhaps Hermione knew who this was.

_That is where I attend school as well._

**You're not joking right? You really attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?**

_Yes, I do. Small world._

At that point, Hermione realised that she had reached the end of the two middle pages where there was no more room left to write. Hermione then watched in complete amazement as all the words that were previously there disappeared, giving her two completely new pages. Her sender seemed to notice that too.

**Did all of the words on the page disappear for you as well?**

_Yes, they did. Whatever is happening here is definitely some kind of magic that makes me curious to no end. I don't know about you, but I must know how this is possible. It could help if we met in person so that we could discover what this is all about._

**Absolutely not. I will not associate myself with whoever you are, regardless of who you might be. Even if you're one of my best friends I wouldn't want to know about whatever this… connection is between our books. We should just end this conversation here and move onto the next pages. If the pages don't talk back to you, then it must only be some kind of power here. You can choose to find that out on your own. I want no part of it or whoever you are.**

_Aren't you curious about this? You must want to know how this is possible._

**Even if I was curious, I just don't want to know whoever it is I am corresponding with. Let's just forget we ever had this conversation and move onto the next pages. If you write here again, don't expect me to respond.**

That seemed like a finalised statement to Hermione, so rather than press for more information, she reluctantly decided to end the conversation that had filled Hermione's head with an endless amount of questions. What in the name of Merlin had just happened? It was almost impossible to believe that she had actually corresponded with someone in what appeared to be an ordinary notebook.

All Hermione could do was stare at it in bewilderment. She had no idea what this meant or what kind of magic this book possessed to make it do this. It filled Hermione with uneasiness along with an undeniable desire to know the truth. Hermione had to know what kind of book she was writing in and what kind of magic she was dealing with. Whatever it was, Hermione was determined to find out what.

Though she had to admit, the one thing that had Hermione more curious than anything was who the identity of her mysterious sender was.

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**I'd originally called the story Dear Anonymous before I had this chapter title as Messages from No One before deciding that I liked that it better as the story title. That was before I realised that it's basically the same name title as Chapter Three in the Philosophers Stone, the Letters from No One. Also, I'd actually drawn out a rough calculation of how long I thought the messages were in an A4 book so where it ran out of space is roughly the same area it was when I went through mine. **

**Anyways, I'm gonna point out that this story will be primarily written from Hermione's perspective with some of Draco's sprinkled around here and there. Updates for this story should be fairly frequent, as in every few weeks or so since I am generally an active writer. I've got another Dramione story out there as well called Little Bear that primarily focuses on the sister that I created for Draco so you can give that one a read as well.**


	2. Chapter 2

**There's been a double dose of Dramione from me this week with my back to back updates, which is generally a rare occurrence for me these days. I'll try to be consistent with these updates, but you never know when I'll be handing out chapters like how Oprah handed out cars. Enjoy the chapter and please, let me know what you think since any feedback is appreciated.**

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Once Hermione had gotten over the initial shock of communicating with somebody through her notebook, she immediately set out to get to the bottom as to why and how this was even possible. There was just no way that communicating with someone through a notebook made any sense to Hermione, even in a world of magic. She was quick to put her investigative cap on and got to work to find out what was going on.

After some consultation with Flitwick and McGonagall, Hermione discovered that there was actually a thing such as twin books that were able to correspond with each other in certain parts. Hermione had discovered it in a book on magic that had been lost to history, with the magic on twin books being so ancient that there had only been a handful discovered in recent centuries. Nobody alive in this age knew how they worked; people just knew that it was possible.

With this information in mind, Hermione felt a lot more at ease to know that she wasn't communicating with some form of Dark Magic. Hermione was actually quite chuffed at the fact that she had discovered a piece of magic that had been lost to history. Something like this book deserved to be studied and evaluated so that it could be figured out how they worked. It would have to take some incredibly advanced magic and skill to figure that out, and even though Hermione was the brightest witch of her age, she doubted that she was powerful enough to pull out an ancient piece of magic from a rusty old book.

Since Hermione delved into the mystery of the book, her next focus was on who the identity of her mysterious sender was. All Hermione could figure out from their one interaction was that they were a Hogwarts student like she was. They hadn't given her any indication as to what gender they were, what house they were in or even their blood status. It didn't help that half of their conversation had disappeared, so it wasn't like Hermione could go back over it to analyse their correspondence. The only thing that Hermione knew for certain was that her sender was clearly going through some sort of difficult time and that they must've had some big secrets in their book if they were threatening to kill someone over it.

That fact unnerved Hermione, since as much as she was an open-minded person, she didn't want to be communicating with the wrong sort of people. Namely those select individuals who did not care for her existence and supported the same maniac that is the epitome of anti-muggle. But Hermione's curiosity had been well and truly spiked in their one conversation, and she was just dying to figure out more about her sender. So for ages she stared at the book that sat on the end of her bed, deciding if whether or not she should go for it.

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Hermione pulled out a quill and turned to the middle page that was now blank before she started writing in it. Not knowing if whether or not her sender would respond, Hermione wanted to write everything down on one single page.

_Dear Anonymous,_

_I know that you said that you wanted no further correspondence with me, but I figured that you would at least want to know how it is that we were able to communicate with each other through a book. So as it turns out, there was an ancient and powerful magic that was once used to connect books together like how ours is. It is the kind of magic that has been lost to history, so nobody that is alive today can understand how this phenomenon is possible. There have been other books like ours discovered in recent centuries, but from what I understand those are preserved and it is extremely rare to find them. The chances of us finding these books in a shop at Diagon Alley are quite literally one in a million._

_With that all written and done, there is something else that I wish to say. You might not want anything to do with me, but I want something to do with you. I would have no ulterior motives to wanting to communicate with you since it's not like I know who you are. We don't have to know each other's names if that is a suitable arrangement for you. I don't know why, but I find the thought of exchanging correspondence with someone through a magical notebook to be endearing. Who knows, we might be able to learn from each other along the way?_

_This might sound incredibly selfish and imposing of me, but I also just want someone to talk to. I'm feeling a lot of things right now, things that I can't really talk to my friends about because it concerns them and I don't really have anyone else to talk to. And you seem to be going through your own tough times, so maybe we could help each other? As I said, we don't have to know who we are if that makes you comfortable and we can keep our problems as discrete as possible._

_Regards,_

_Your Recipient_

Writing a letter seemed like a very formal thing to do, but Hermione wanted to handle this situation as best as she could. There was no telling who could be on the other end of the book, and as much as her curiosity had been spiked, Hermione wasn't sure if she even did want to know who they were. But the opportunity to have someone to vent her current frustrations to without them knowing who she was seemed like a good one to take. So long as she remained as discrete as possible, they wouldn't know who she was.

To Hermione's surprise, it was only a few moments later when another set of words appeared on the book. After holding her breath, Hermione slowly picked the book up and read her senders response.

**Dear Recipient,**

**I'm gonna be honest and say that when I first realised that there was obviously something wrong with this book after our initial interaction, I tried to get rid of it. I did everything in my power to get it away from me but every time I threw it away, it would always end up back in my possession. I then tried destroying it, but the damn book was too powerful for that as well. Every other page that wasn't the one that allowed me to communicate with you was able to be broken, but these two middle pages seem to be indestructible. So I guess that it does help knowing how this works to some degree.**

**In regards to your offer, my first reaction was to turn it down because what I have going on for me right now is stuff that I wouldn't even tell my own friends, let alone some stranger in a book. But I guess if we kept our names out of our correspondence without giving too much away, I suppose we could continue communicating if this proves to useful for the both of us.**

**Regards, **

**Anonymous**

If she was being honest, Hermione had been somewhat taken by surprise when she saw that her mysterious sender had replied to her. It only made her more keen to figure out more about who was on the other end of this conversation. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Hermione picked up her quill and started writing again.

_Well, my problem comes from your typical teenage drama. You see, I have this friend who is going through some difficulties with their friendship group. For a while now, this friend has had feelings for another one of their friends. Unfortunately, they suffered a falling out that put a fracture in their friendship. We'll call the first friend Nina and the other friend Fabian to avoid confusion. If you ask me, Fabian overreacted about something that Nina did so he decided to take the petty route and found himself a girlfriend, Joy. Fabian has been overly obnoxious with his girlfriend and Nina knows that Fabian is only dating Joy to make her jealous. If anything, it's making her more angry and frustrated than jealous._

_There's a problem here since Nina can't really go to anyone for help, since her best friend (who we'll call Alfie) is also best friends with Fabian. Alfie is also going through his own dramas, since he's just now realised his feelings for one of Nina's friends, Amber, who is currently dating someone that we'll call Mick. I'm also friends with Alfie so I have had numerous conversations with both of them about their respective dilemma's._

_It's especially frustrating for Nina because she has liked Fabian for a long time now so to have him completely disregarding her feelings when she clearly cares about him is hurting her. She doesn't know how to handle this situation or to address her relationship with Fabian that only seems to be getting worse by the day. They're hardly speaking, and it's upsetting her a lot so she doesn't know what to do._

With a resigned sigh, Hermione sat down her quill and waited for the response. She figured that the best thing to do was to describe her problem as if it was someone else's. It wasn't that she had any shame in saying who she was, it was just clear that whoever her sender was didn't want to know that so for their sake, Hermione was keeping her name out of it. Seconds later, there was a response from Anonymous that was hardly like what Hermione had been hoping for.

**When you said that you had your own troubles, that was certainly not what I had predicted. Granted, I doubt anyone can relate to the struggles that I am going through but I felt rather ridiculous sitting here while reading your petty drama. I get that it might be a big deal to you, but there really are some people out there who have more important things to worry about other than teenage angst. **

**If you ask me, that Fabian guy sounds like a jerk if he's intentionally trying to hurt Nina by rubbing his relationship in her face. He'd be a bigger jerk too if he knew that she liked him. That whole scheme with Joy sounds ridiculous on his part. Why even date a girl if you have no interest in her? That's just disrespectful, and I was raised to treat the women that you court with respect. Though admittedly, I'm not nice to every woman out there but I would definitely have respect for the one that I was courting and I wouldn't string anyone along for a ride like he's doing to Joy since I know what it feels like to be used.**

**As for that other friend of yours, he sounds like a real wuss if he's only just realising his feelings for Amber now that she's dating someone else. Why want what you can't have when you could have anything else? It might suck not to have your first choice but the dude should remember that he's clearly not her first choice. If he gets desperate enough, Alfie should take a page from Fabian's book and date someone to make Amber jealous.**

Staring down at her notebook once the words had been written, Hermione couldn't help but agree with the fact that Ron was being a jerk by dating Lavender to make her jealous. It made Hermione think that if he really cared about her, then he wouldn't do something that was clearly hurting her like dating Lavender was. Then again, it wasn't like Ron had always been so emotionally understanding with feelings before.

There was another subtle clue in there about Anonymous that Hermione barely picked up on. It was when they said that they knew how it felt to be used, but Hermione didn't know if they were talking about it in the same way that Ron was using Lavender or if Anonymous had been used in a different way. Hermione did have to admit that maybe her drama wasn't that bad, especially when comparing it to what she knew other people were going through. It made Hermione think that perhaps Anonymous was going through something that they considered worse than having feelings for your best friend, and Hermione wanted to find out what that was.

_You can tell me what's bothering you if you'd like._

**No thanks.**

_Whenever you're ready._

That seemed to mark the end of their conversation for now, since Hermione spent a few moments staring at the book before accepting that Anonymous wasn't going to be divulging their secrets to her anytime soon. But that didn't mean that Hermione would be giving up, since she fully intended to get to know more about Anonymous while finding out who they were along the way.

* * *

**When I first started planning this, I hadn't planned for Hermione and Draco to communicate with each other through matching notebooks but that idea sounded a lot more promising than what I had originally conceived. I'll give a shoutout if you can point out what TV show I got the names from for Hermione.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay with this chapter, I got a bit busy and was lacking a little muse as I decided how things were going to turn out next. Alas, I couldn't stay away from here for too long so here's another chapter to keep things going. The names that Hermione used in the previous chapter were indeed from House of Anubis, so kudos to anyone who figured that out.**

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Talking… or _writing _to her mysterious sender actually seemed to be very therapeutic for Hermione. It was far too easy for Hermione to just get lost in the letters that she would send to Anonymous, and she found herself becoming quite engrossed with their replies. As much as Hermione knew that she could simply divulge her innermost feelings in an ordinary journal, it just wasn't the same as actually having someone to talk to. Hermione appreciated the fact that there was someone at the end of this who might not necessarily care about who she was, but they at least cared enough to read and reply to her lengthy entries.

It was hard not to notice that Anonymous didn't seem as keen as she was to talk about their problems. Most of the time, Hermione found herself writing the most and it wouldn't be long before her words covered both pages before she had even given Anonymous the chance to reply. Their responses were always short and to the point, and no matter how many times Hermione had analysed their responses once she had them memorised, there was nothing that gave away who their identity could possibly be.

Whenever Anonymous did speak about themselves, it was always after some insistence on Hermione's part. There was never a time when they instigated their communication, it was always Hermione who made the first move. With that in mind, Hermione purposefully delayed her response time in the hopes that it would prompt Anonymous to write to her first. It was agonising waiting for them to take the plunge, mostly because there was already so much that Hermione wanted to vent about. Finally, after almost two weeks of waiting, Hermione got a response.

**You still there?**

_Yes, I am._

**I was beginning to think that perhaps you'd moved on from your teenage angst.**

_Oh, I still have my teenage angst to deal with. I just got tired of always being the one to instigate our conversations so I figured that I'd wait for you to make the first move this time._

**And what would you have done if I just kept waiting?**

_I suppose that I would've eventually lost my resolve and wrote to you first._

**You just can't get enough of me, huh?**

_Absolutely not. I just quite like having the company of someone to talk to, especially when that person can offer me advice._

**In other words, you can't get enough of me.**

That was most certainly _not _true. The only reason why Hermione was still communicating with this person was so that she could figure out who they were. It had nothing to do with her genuinely wanting to talk to this person. She didn't even know who they were for Merlin's sake, so how could she want more from them? It didn't help that Hermione's clues to go on were quite miniscule, but whoever this was certainly seemed to have a bit of an ego.

_If that's what helps you sleep at night, then sure. I can't get enough of you._

**I can read your sarcasm.**

_Well, it's nice to know that you're not delusional then._

**Not anymore, at least.**

_What's that supposed to mean?_

**Never mind that. So, how did your little Christmas gathering turn out? Did you take my advice for your friend?**

Sometimes it was hard for Hermione to remember that she wasn't supposed to be talking about herself, since she had described things in a way that made her an outside perspective to her own problems. In the lead-up to Slughorn's Christmas party, Hermione had been left at a loss as she tried to figure out how to approach this situation. Initially, Hermione had wanted to invite Ron to the party but given how he had been treating her lately and his relationship with Lavender, that unfortunately wasn't an option.

So, with no idea of what to do, Hermione had asked Anonymous for some advice. Of course Hermione had left out the fact that she would be attending Slughorn's Christmas party and phrased it so that Nina would be going to a party with friends to Hogsmeade. Anonymous had suggested that Nina dolled herself up to make Ron (or Fabian) ogle over her, but since Ron wasn't actually going to the party, she couldn't really take that advice. Instead Hermione had come up with her own plan of inviting Cormac McLaggen as her date, a decision that she had ended up profoundly regretting.

_No, I did not offer your advice to Nina. Though I ended up wishing that I did since my own plan ended up backfiring for her._

**And what was that plan?**

_Since Nina couldn't go with Fabian like she had initially planned, I ended up suggesting that perhaps she should invite someone who would surely annoy Fabian. She took that advice, though she ended up regretting it since who she invited basically ruined her night._

**So it would seem as though your plan to help your stupid friend ended up annoying your other stupid friend. Ironic.**

_I suppose it is._

**Though I suppose I should give you bonus points for coming up with some kind of plan. Perhaps if your friend had chosen another alternative companion then the situation would have turned out better for her.**

_You're probably right. Nina didn't have to chose anyone that would simply annoy Fabian, she could've have just gone with anyone else to make him jealous. Alfie even suggested that they went together since he couldn't go with who he wanted to. Even going with Alfie probably would've been enough to make Fabian jealous since he has always been easily jealous. But since Nina had already made arrangements with someone else, she couldn't just back out of them._

**Did she even like the guy that she went with?**

_No, she most certainly did not. But Nina was desperate to make Fabian jealous that she was willing to test her patience like that. She should've just asked Alfie instead. He would've been more pleasant company._

**Your friends sound like idiots.**

_That wouldn't be far from the truth. But they're still my friends, and I'm always going to be there for them._

**Wish I could say the same in regards to mine.**

That was yet another subtle clue from Anonymous. They rarely ever spoke about themselves and whatever issues they might be going through, and whenever they did, they never mentioned anything that could help Hermione figure out who they were. Perhaps this was her chance to change that.

_I'd be there for you if you would tell me what is bothering you._

**As if. You'd probably want nothing to do with me if you knew who I was and what I was doing. **

Okay, maybe this really wasn't something that Hermione should be messing with if Anonymous was so adamant that their problems could not be helped. It was difficult not knowing who this person was, since maybe then it would be easier for her to help them. After the advice that Anonymous had given her, it only seemed fair to Hermione that she repaid the favour. If only they would let her.

_It can't be that bad._

**It can be. My issues really can't be compared to teenage angst.**

_Yet you have read all about my friends and their petty drama while offering me advice. You've been a great help. Maybe I could be the same to you if you would just open up to me._

**I'll admit that at first I didn't really care about your stupid drama, but I suppose it was refreshing to talk to a normal person about normal stuff. I'd take your teenage angst over my issues any day.**

_Whatever you're going through must be difficult if you'd be willing to put up with my friends and their idiocy._

**True, your friends are idiots and you really shouldn't be wasting your time on their drama but you shouldn't be wasting your time with my problems anyways.**

_I'm just offering my help._

**Well, I don't want your help. So why don't you quit trying while you still can and shove it up Merlin's ass.**

_I don't think that Merlin would appreciate that._

**Whatever.**

_Look, just know that whatever it is you're going through, you don't have to go through it on your own. Remember our agreement, we don't have to mention names. You could even give fake names like I did. Just let me help you. _

**I'm trying to do the right thing here and not waste your time, or mine for that matter. You couldn't help me no matter what you came up with.**

_Have it your way then._

That seemed to be the last that Hermione would hear from Anonymous now, and she was beginning to think that perhaps she had been a bit too pushy in trying to get them to open up to her. Hermione understood that it might not be so easy to trust people, especially a stranger that you're communicating with through a book, but Hermione had trusted Anonymous enough to confess her secrets. And although it might be too much to ask, Hermione expected them same sentiment in return.

But Anonymous' hesitation wasn't going to discourage Hermione. She didn't know why, but she felt the strangest pull to help this person. Hermione didn't know if whether or not it was her bleeding heart or her own agenda, but she would not let whoever it was go through their problems on their own when they didn't have to.

~*•°•*~

In the weeks that followed, Hermione found herself adding a new problem to her list as Harry was becoming increasingly obsessed with Draco Malfoy. His obsession had started before they even arrived at school with Harry being convinced that the blonde Slytherin was now a Death Eater. That was something that Hermione did not believe, simply because although Malfoy might be a horrible person, Hermione did not think that he had the ability to partake in such activities, like cursing Katie Bell with a necklace.

With Christmas fast approaching, Hermione found herself planning what she would be doing in her time alone. In the past, Hermione had gone to the Burrow for the Christmas holidays, but since things between her and Ron only seemed to be going form bad to worse these days, Hermione did not think that it would be a good idea for her to go there for Christmas. Instead, Hermione planned on spending the holidays with her parents while doing some more research on her book. She had already decided that she would visit the same store that she got the book from to hopefully find more clues. But if she didn't find anything, Hermione had no problems with carrying out her own research.

On her way back to London, Hermione sat by herself on the Hogwarts Express since she certainly didn't have the patience to sit with Harry and Ron right now. These days they were both getting on her nerves, with Harry's never-ending theories about Malfoy and Ron's exhibitionist relationship with Lavender. Some time alone was doing her some good, though Hermione wished that things weren't like the way that they were. With a sigh, Hermione picked up her red notebook and began writing on the magic pages.

_I'd like to apologise if I came across too strong or imposing. As I have said multiple times, I only want to help you._

**And I do not want your help. What is so difficult to understand about that?**

_And what is so difficult to understand that I just want to help?_

**Hm, smart comeback. But you won't get anything from me with your witty words. I prefer to keep my problems to myself, thank you very much.**

_That's not very healthy. _

**Like I'd care what you, or anyone else for that matter, thinks about me.**

_Then it should be no problem for you to tell me what is troubling you so much. You might not have explicitly told me what is going on, but I have read through enough of the lines to know that whatever it is must be distressing._

**Way to state the obvious. And if you really wanna get to know me, then you should know that I've never been too blindly trusting. **

_Yet I trust you._

**And even I can admit that doing so is a foolish move.**

_Well, I still do. Besides, it's not like I've given you my name so it's not like you can do anything with what I'm telling you._

**Fair point, but I'd rather not talk about my problems with somebody that I don't know.**

_And why not?_

**Because I refuse to tell my personal problems with somebody that I don't even know.**

_What would it take for you to let me tell you?_

**Why do you even care so much? You don't even know who I am.**

_Like I said, you're obviously going through something and I only want to help. I want to help anyone who needs it or will accept it._

**Even if that person ended up being your worst enemy? Would you just turn a blind eye if that person was holding their last breath?**

_I wouldn't. No matter how badly someone might have treated me, I would want to help them. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I knew that I could've helped someone and turned my back on them._

That much was true. There was no way that Hermione would be able to live with herself if she didn't help someone, no matter who that was. Hermione liked to see the good in anyone, even Malfoy. Though she'd have to draw the line at Voldemort for obvious reasons. All Hermione wanted to do was help this person, and she was going to do her best to get them to accept her offer.

**You're not going to give this up easily, aren't you?**

_No I won't. You have listened to me and offered advice, it's only fair that I do the same for you. What am I going to have to do to get you to open up to me?_

**If you are sure that you wish to know more about me, then you are going to have to earn my trust.**

_And how am I going to have to do that?_

**Figure it out.**

So there it was. It almost felt like Anonymous was challenging Hermione to earn their trust, something that she doubted that they would be willing to give easily. But Hermione had already committed herself to helping them, so if she was going to have to earn their trust then Hermione was going to do whatever she could to achieve that. Who knows, she might even be able to figure out who this is along the way.

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**Another chapter down, only a couple more dozen chapters to go since I expect this story to be close to twenty chapters long. Hopefully updates won't be too delayed, but if you really want more then just leave more reviews and that'll make it easier for me to motivate myself to give you guys something good.**


	4. Chapter 4

**There should be more consistent updates to come now that I've got more time on my hands, so hopefully you guys won't have to wait too long now. As always, enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think.**

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After arriving at home for the holidays, Hermione quickly made plans to visit the bookshop in Diagon Alley where she had purchased her book from. Hermione had every intention of discovering just where this book came from and how it allowed her to communicate with someone else through another book. Convincing her parents to let her do anything on her own these days was more difficult than it used to be, since they were so obviously worried about her given what was happening. But Hermione had to remind her parents that she was a capable witch who was more than capable of taking care of herself.

Being in Diagon Alley certainly wasn't as safe as it used to be, but it was where Hermione needed to go if she was to get anywhere with this book. Seeing how abandoned and damaged the shops were made Hermione long for the liveliness that once filled this place. Now there was hardly anything there and it was practically a ghost town. When Hermione found Scribbulus Writing Implements, or what was left of it for that matter, she cursed herself for forgetting that the shop had been ransacked by Death Eaters. It had happened on the same day that Ollivanders had been raided by the Death Eaters, only a few days after Hermione had purchased her book from there.

Standing in front of the shop, Hermione debated what she should do now. The chances of her finding anything useful here were slim, since there was probably hardly anything left of the shop. But after deciding to throw caution to the wind anyways, Hermione carefully walked inside and examined the state of the shop. It was a far cry from the shop that Hermione had walked into to purchase her book in July. There were still a few remnants of the shop lying around, but other than that it appeared to be completely abandoned with hardly anything in it. That was, until Hermione heard the slightest sound of rustling from the back of the shop.

Reacting on instinct, Hermione pulled out her wand and carefully approached where the noise was coming from. This was her Gryffindor bravery coming out as she prepared herself to face whatever or _whoever _was in here as well. The noise became louder until Hermione could see the door getting banged. Deciding to act on instinct, she cast the Knockback Jinx on the door, causing it to push the door open and fling whoever was behind it to be thrown back with a loud thud. Hermione then pushed through the door, bracing herself for whoever was there. At first Hermione was surprised to see that someone was there, but when she got a closer look she wasn't that surprised at all.

"Mundungus Fletcher," Hermione stated.

He looked up at her, "Hermione Granger."

"Just what do you think you're doing here?" Hermione asked.

"I could ask you the same question," Mundungus remarked.

"I asked first," Hermione narrowed her eyes.

Mundungus rolled his eyes, "Surely you know who I am, Granger? It shouldn't take a wild guess to figure out why I'm here."

"You're stealing," Hermione stated.

"I'm not stealing since it doesn't belong to no one anymore," Mundungus argued.

"May I ask what it is that you have stolen?" Hermione questioned.

"Why? Are you after anything that could be… valuable?" Mundungus smirked.

"Have you by any chance come across two yellow or blue notebooks here with nothing inside of them?" Hermione inquired, knowing that she was better off being frank with him.

"No I haven't," Mundungus replied.

"These books that I'm looking for aren't like any other books. They have… special powers. Would you know anything about that?" Hermione wondered in an attempt to find out what he knew.

Mundungus' eyes widened, "You don't mean those bewitched books, don't you? The twin books?"

"Yes, I do," Hermione clarified, somewhat surprised that Mundungus would know about them. Then again, he sold magical artefacts for a living so it would make sense that he'd know about something like this.

"How do you know about them, missy? They're incredibly rare," Mundungus stated.

"I stumbled across them in some research and I remembered coming across a set of books when I last came here," Hermione replied.

"What? When? Was it in a full set? Tell me everything you know!" Mundungus demanded.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "I came here before the place was ransacked by Death Eaters in August, and there was one book missing from the set so I came here to see if I could find it by any chance."

"Do you remember what price the books were when you saw them?" Mundungus asked.

"They were the same price of any ordinary book," Hermione replied.

"I find it hard to believe that the shop owner would sell those incredibly rare books for an ordinary price if they knew what it was. Those things are worth far more than a few galleons," Mundungus said.

"Well, all I know about those books is that somebody out there has one of them in their possession. Whoever that is bought it fair and square considering the circumstances," Hermione stated, deciding not to tell him that she was in possession of the matching book.

"What I would give to come into some luck like that," Mundungus grumbled.

"There is more that I know that could help you, but I'll only help you if you help me," Hermione offered.

"Define more," Mundungus stated.

"Tell me somewhere I can find out more about this book and the set that it belonged to and I'll tell you where you can get the other pair," Hermione stated.

"If you wanna know more, you should go to Dalelio's Dealings. I go to her for all of my antique evaluation and she's pretty good at finding stuff," Mundungus replied.

"Thank you," Hermione nodded before turning to leave.

"Wait!" Mundungus called out. "You said that you'd tell me where to find the other pair."

"Oh, right," Hermione smirked to herself. "They're not here, but you'd be looking for a blue and yellow book."

"What do you mean they're not here? You said that you knew where I could find them!" Mundungus exclaimed.

"I didn't say that I _knew _where the other pair was. I told you that I could tell you where you can get it and you can't get it here. That's all of the information that you're getting from me," Hermione declared before leaving a gobsmacked Mundungus Fletcher in the middle of the abandoned store.

As if Hermione would ever help him. She knew who Mundungus Fletcher was and the kind of person that he was. He definitely wasn't the kind of character that Hermione wanted to get involved with, and he definitely wasn't the kind of person that she wanted to help. She had to admit that it felt good to trick him in his place, since he had a reputation for doing the same to others. Now he'd gotten a taste of his own medicine.

With the bookshop being a dead end and Mundungus Fletcher having some surprisingly useful information, Hermione headed to Dalelio's Dealings. The shop was owned by Deidre Dalelio and was located close to Knockturn Alley. It wasn't a shop that Hermione had visited before, but it was where she had to go to if she was to find out anything more about these books. There was just so much that Hermione felt like she needed to know, and she wasn't going to rest until she found out just where these books came from.

Upon arriving at the ratchet-looking shop, Hermione glanced around to see if there was anything suspicious going on before carefully walking inside. The shop was practically empty, and it wasn't anything big or impressive from where she was standing. From the looks of it, most of the shop seemed to be upstairs but it didn't seem like that was where Hermione would be going. She could hear some shuffling from upstairs before the sound of footsteps became clearer and a middle-aged woman appeared. The woman was wearing short robes and presented herself with formality.

"May I help you?" the woman asked.

"Um, yes," Hermione stammered. "Are you Deidre Dalelio?"

"The one and only," the woman declared as she descended down the steps. "How may I help you, dear?"

"I was wondering if you knew anything about the old twin books," Hermione said.

"Oh my," Deidre gasped. "Those books are legendary, dear. There are said to be only ten in existence. At least three of them are kept at the Ministry for safe keeping and evaluation. Only Merlin knows where the other seven are. For centuries those people have tried discovering the secrets of the twin books, but all have failed. Nobody alive today knows how they work."

"What are the origins of these books? How far back do they go?" Hermione inquired.

"They go back centuries ago. The first pair was found in around the tenth century, presumedly by Armand Malfoy," Deirdre replied.

"_Malfoy_!" Hermione exclaimed in shock, recognising the name as one of Draco Malfoy's ancestors.

"Yes, it's said that he was able to gain William the Conqueror as an ally by using his pair of books to forge an alliance. Together they lead the Norman conquest, and it is said that William granted Malfoy a piece of land in Wiltshire that is now known as Malfoy Manor," Deidre explained.

"How do I not know this? I've read everything there is to know about the Norman conquest and there was nothing in there about Malfoy and William bonding over twin books," Hermione stated.

"That's because nothing has ever truly been proven about it, just like it is with everything about the Malfoys. Some say that Armand Malfoy only said that himself to boost his name, since before him the Malfoy family only resided in France and they were hardly known in Britain. What better way to give your name a boost than to claim ownership of an ancient piece of work that would immediately give you attention?" Deidre said.

Hermione snorted, "Sounds about right."

"Though that bit of information wasn't something that came up until very later on, as in after all of the certified works on the Norman conquest had been released. And you'll notice that some things aren't in any books because there is limited information on them, just like the twin books," Diedre explained.

"But if this isn't well-known information then how do you know it?" Hermione wondered.

"I'm an antiques dealer. It is my job to know anything and everything about ancient objects. I'm actually licenced to do my job, unlike a certain Mundungus Fletcher," Diedre replied.

"He told me to go to you," Hermione stated.

"Yes, I do help Fletcher from time to time on his dealings. Fletcher is known for stealing, and I know that if I didn't help him then he'd be stealing from me. Besides, the man is pretty easy to bribe. I take great joy in sending him on wild goose chases to find whatever it is that will catch his eye," Deidre said.

"Is there anything else that you could tell me about these books?" Hermione wondered.

"I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about how they work because as I'm sure you know; nobody alive today can figure that out. But I have heard other things about them. I'm not sure if you know this, but there are hardly any left in this day and age when their surely used to be plenty of them. So there are theories that the books have a time limit," Deidre answered.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean by a time limit?"

"I mean that they can only correspond with each other for a certain amount of time before they become useless and are just like any other ordinary book without special powers," Deidre clarified.

"You mean that there's only a certain amount of space in these books for them to work before they shut off completely?" Hermione stated.

"That is exactly what I mean," Deidre nodded. "Why are you so interested in these books anyways, my dear? How do you even know about them?"

"I…" Hermione trailed off as she tried figuring out what to say. "I came across them while doing some research at school and I was fascinated by their abilities. Then I heard something about a full set possibly being available at Scribbulus Writing Implements before it was raided by the Death Eaters."

Deidre paused for a moment, "It would explain why they ransacked the place if they thought there would be any valuables up for grabs. The Death Eaters don't just target any place."

"Then how come you're still here?" Hermione asked.

"Simple, I know how to protect myself. As long as they target any other shop that isn't mine, I don't care what those people do," Deidre said. "Now, if you don't have anymore questions for me, I must ask you to take your leave."

"Of course," Hermione nodded before getting up. "Thank you for the information, it has been very helpful."

"Why of course, I am happy to be of assistance," Deidre said before she headed up the stairs of her shop.

Having found what she needed to know for now, Hermione left the antique shop with a familiar sinking feeling in her stomach. Seeing Deidre had been helpful, but it had left her with a sense of dread. If the woman was right, there was only so much use that Hermione could get out of her book. There had already been plenty of communication between her and Anonymous, and Hermione certainly didn't want to run out of space before she could help them, let alone find out who they were.

So with that in mind, Hermione knew that she would have to gain their trust fast if she was to get them to open up to her. That was easier said than done, since Anonymous clearly had their own walls up that Hermione would just have to eventually wear down before time ran out.

* * *

**Sorry for the lack of Draco communication in this chapter, I'd originally planned to have some Draco in here at the end but it didn't fit so I decided to leave the chapter on an ambiguous ending. So you got some more made up information from me, but I did some research of my own before adding in that bit with Armand Malfoy and William the Conqueror forging an alliance over books just cause it's ironic considering the fact that it's what Hermione and Draco are unwittingly doing in the present. I've done some planning ahead and their reveal will be coming sooner than you might think so stay tuned for that ;).**


	5. Chapter 5

**Enjoy this update with plenty of development to make up for the lack of that in the previous one. Nothing else to say except I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter and tell me what you think.**

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Sitting in her room, Hermione stared at the book in front of her without doing anything. Just hours ago she had received a letter from Harry informing her about the attack that had happened at the Burrow. Even though she and Ron weren't on the best terms at the moment, she was still concerned for her friend and his family. Hermione was just glad that nobody had been hurt even though the Burrow had gone down in flames.

It was times like this when Hermione wished that she had someone to talk to, and although she had wanted to go to the Burrow herself in the wake of the attack, her parents had forbid her from leaving the house. That just left Hermione with Anonymous to talk to, but considering how their conversations had gone so far, she doubted that they would be very receptive to her. Hermione also had to think about how she was going to help them with whatever limitations these books had, though Hermione didn't think that telling Anonymous about that was a good idea since it would only give them an excuse to pull away from her.

With her quill in hand, Hermione flipped through the book to get to the page that she needed to reach. By this point, Hermione had been through that book so many times that she didn't even need to look at it to know where she was. When Hermione wrote down her first message, she waited a few moments before Anonymous wrote back their reply.

_Happy Christmas._

**I don't see what's so 'Happy' about it.**

One thing that Hermione noticed during their conversations was how Anonymous would drop subtle hints about how they were feeling. From the gist of things, they really seemed like a pessimistic person. If Hermione gave them a half full glass, they'd probably call it half empty. She wanted to know why they were like that, and she intended on finding out.

_What doesn't make it happy for you?_

**I've never liked Christmas. The only good thing about it was getting stuff from people, but now I can barely celebrate it because of that. There is nothing good about it.**

_Well, I love Christmas. It's one of my favourite times of the year where you can spend time with family and friends. The gift giving is also a bonus, but it's just the festivity of it all that makes me love it._

**So you like Christmas then? That doesn't surprise me.**

_Why?_

**You just seem like the kind of person that's always happy and peppy. I'd hate to spend Christmas with you.**

_Well, you seem like the kind of person that I wouldn't want to spend Christmas with either. You don't sound like the kind of person that I want to do anything with. Why is that so?_

**You'd be smart to not want to do anything with me.**

_And why is that? You're just a teenager, like me. Whatever you're going through can't be something as catastrophic as you're making it out to be._

**Can you do me a favour and **_**stop **_**downplaying what I'm going through when you don't even know what that is?**

This was when her frustration at them would come out, because it would be a lot more helpful if they would just tell her what their problem was. Hermione wanted to be able to understand them and do whatever she could to help, but they were seemingly determined not to let her in. But Anonymous wasn't making this easy, and Hermione knew that she was going to have to work hard to break down their barriers and earn their trust.

_I won't downplay it if you actually tell me. Let me understand you, I want to._

**I'm not sure if I want to let you. It's not like anybody that I know can understand me.**

_Don't you have family that you can talk to, like any brothers or sisters to talk to?_

**I don't have anyone like that. I just have my mother and even she can barely help me right now. Nobody can, especially not you.**

_Maybe I could if you just let me. I like helping anyone. I would even help my own worst enemy._

**You sound too nice for your own good.**

_Maybe I am, and maybe you're just someone that needs to take advantage of people to feel better about themselves so you can try to take advantage of me if you want to._

… **That could be taken more than one way.**

_And you should know that I do not mean it the other way._

**I could only dream.**

… _Did you just hit on me?_

**Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Would **_**you **_**want me to hit on you?**

_I'm just saying that you shouldn't hit on someone if you don't know who or what they are._

**Are you saying that you're a Hippogriff or something?**

_No, I thought we already made it clear that we're both human? And even if I was a Hippogriff, what's wrong with Hippogriffs?_

**They're outrageous beasts. I'd rank them up there with werewolves.**

_Hippogriffs aren't beasts. They're majestic creatures that should be treated with respect by anyone unless you want to get a hove to the face. And although every werewolf might not be one that you would want to meet, you can't just judge them all because of the stereotyped beliefs surrounding them that only exist because of a werewolf like Fenrir Greyback._

Even though debating animal rights probably wasn't the best way to spend their time communicating, it wasn't something that Hermione could hold herself back from writing. Hippogriffs were noble creatures that only attacked when they were provoked, like when Draco Malfoy foolishly insulted Buckbeak in their third year. When it came to werewolves, Hermione didn't consider them all bad either, since although she knew just how savage they could be like Fenrir Greyback was, she knew that they weren't all bad after knowing Remus Lupin.

**So you're an animal rights activist huh?**

_Is there anything wrong with that? I just believe that all magical creatures should be preserved and respected. You should know that we heavily rely on them and that our society would be nothing without magical creatures._

**I'm not saying that I have anything against every magical creature, I'm just not particularly fond of Hippogriffs and werewolves because of firsthand experience.**

_Well, I suppose that's fair enough. Do you like any creatures then?_

**I like dragons and kneazles. Thestrals are cool once you can see them too. **

_So you've seen death then?_

**Yeah, and I'd rather not talk about it.**

_I can respect that. I can't see Thestrals, but one of my friends can. I've even taken one for a ride before._

**You can't see Thestrals yet you flew on the back of one?**

_Yes, I have, and it was quite terrifying since I couldn't see what I was flying on. I'm not much of a flier so that made it even worse._

**I love flying, it's one of the few things that I actually enjoy, but I can't really enjoy it much anymore. I can't enjoy anything anymore. **

_Surely you have other hobbies and things that you enjoy that can make you happy. What about school? What do you enjoy about it?_

**There isn't much that I enjoy about that place, not that I ever have. I like Quidditch, but I don't really care enough about it anymore. I don't care about anything anymore. I just care about making it through this year.**

This was yet another opportunity for Hermione to get more from Anonymous but yet again they were resisting from her. Hermione could see this as the time for her to get to know them better, but she knew that she had to tread with caution.

_Things at school definitely aren't the same anymore, and not just because of new learning challenges or friendship group drama. With the way the state of things are and the Aurors guarding every entrance, Hogwarts just doesn't feel the same. It doesn't have that same magic that made it feel like home._

**Hogwarts was never a home to me, I always wanted to be back to my home because it was where I felt the most connected to. Now I have never felt more disconnected to my home.**

_I understand how you feel. I've just been so disconnected from reality because I'm constantly worrying about the people that I love and worrying about the war. It's a lot harder to deal with when it hits you closer to home._

**You got that right.**

_I'm just glad that I have school to distract myself with, it helps take my mind off of everything that bothers me. _

**Well, I'm sure you have people that are in your corner.**

_I consider myself lucky to have people that I know will support me, but it isn't always easy. I feel like some people pick and choose when they want to be my friend only when I'm of use to them and sometimes I do feel abandoned._

There was definitely some truth to that, since right now Hermione wasn't feeling the best about her friendship with Harry and Ron. She'd always been the brain of their trio, and as much as Hermione cherished their friendship and the times that they had been there for her, she definitely felt left out at times. It's always been clear to Hermione that Harry and Ron were always closer to each other than she was to any of them. If they had to, Hermione figured that they'd choose each other over her, and that was a sad realisation. It would be nice to have a friend that would pick her above everyone else.

**And here was me thinking that we hardly had anything in common, yet you keep on surprising me.**

_That's something that I enjoy doing._

**Clearly. Have your so-called friends ever told you how you think they feel about you?**

_No, they haven't. I guess it's just one of those insecurity things that make you feel that way. And I suppose that some of their actions in the past have added to those insecurities. Our friendship didn't even start in the best way since they hardly liked me to begin with._

**In my opinion, if they thought of you in a certain way then there's a part of them that will always think that way.**

_As much as I don't want to think it, I suppose that you're right in that sense. _

**Well, I guess that we're both a pair of miserable losers.**

_We're certainly acting like it._

**So, why do you care about a miserable loser like me when you don't even know who I am or what I'm going through?**

_Because I just care. I can't help it if I care a lot. I tend to care about things that most people tend to disregard. Some would say that I have a bleeding heart, and I guess they would be right since my actions have certainly proved that. _

**You really care that much about everything?**

_I do, and most of the time I don't even care if whoever or whatever it is doesn't even care about me like you clearly don't._

**Hey, don't go acting like you know everything about me when you don't.**

…_Did you just admit that you care about me?_

**I didn't say that.**

_Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. But you certainly implied it._

**Don't go getting a big head just because of a few misinterpreted words.**

_You know, it's okay to care about someone other than yourself. You've certainly given me that kind of impression about who you are._

**Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong. But you wouldn't know that.**

_Oh ha, ha, ha. Using my own words against me. _

**Eat your own words.**

_Well that's not really possible._

**Don't go getting all technical on me now. Nobody likes a smartass.**

_So I've been told._

**By your so-called friends, huh?**

_Not exactly. It's like one of those things that they don't say but you know that they think it._

**You should get some new friends.**

_Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But at least I have you._

**You don't have me; you just have this weird and powerful journal. You mean at least we have this.**

_Yes, we do._

Hermione and Anonymous seemed to take turns in being the one to end their conversations, and now it looked like it was back to her again as Anonymous didn't give her a reply back. Except for their first conversation, they had never said 'goodbye' or anything to indicate the end of their communication. It always happened spontaneously which made Hermione treasure each moment that they shared with these journals. But Hermione could treasure their conversations more now since they seemed to be going in a different direction.

If this one was anything to go by, it would seem as though Anonymous was slowly beginning to warm up to her and that just gave Hermione the greatest boost of confidence. She just had to make every word and conversation count, even if it meant opening up about herself in ways that she didn't always do. Instead of helping them, talking with Anonymous this time seemed to help her. Hermione had been struggling with this conflict between her and Ron, and by extension, Harry. Just having someone to confide in about her insecurities about their friendship even if it was through a journal took a weight off her shoulders.

Now that she had gotten that much help, Hermione planned on giving the same back in return even though she hardly had any idea who she was helping. At that point, their identity didn't even matter and Hermione just wanted to make them feel better like they had done for her. Maybe she really did have a bleeding heart after all.

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**Yay, they made some progress now. I know that in cannon it was never said if Draco could see Thestrals, but I imagine that after his first initiation to the Death Eaters that he'd see more death than any teenager should. I'll make some more progress here if I get lots more reviews and thoughts on how things are going so far. Every author loves getting feedback, and that includes me so review away.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Time for another chapter, and not too long after the last one either so I'm proud of myself for that. You can look forward to some more development in here, but not without its setbacks.**

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Returning back to Hogwarts left Hermione with more time to herself once again. These days Harry was more concerned with his private lessons from Dumbledore and his obsession with Draco Malfoy. As for Ron, Hermione wouldn't say that they were fighting anymore since they just weren't speaking to each other. She had considered approaching Ron and saying that she was glad that he was alright, but every time she saw Ron he was with his precious Lavender who was just _raving _about her Won-Won. Ron didn't seem to be enjoying himself with Lavender anymore, which gave Hermione the slightest bit of satisfaction since he only started dating Lavender to get back at her.

So with the free time that she had to herself, Hermione spent it doing her schoolwork and communicating with Anonymous. Hermione was pleased to think that they seemed to be making more progress together. With every conversation, Anonymous appeared to be getting more and more comfortable with her. She had taken a step back from continuously asking them about what was troubling them, since Hermione had realised by now that asking that only made things worse. She was still no closer to figuring out who they were, but if Hermione could help them in anyway she would consider that a victory.

It was almost becoming ironic how Hermione was slowly becoming obsessed with the book. To think that not too long ago she was calling Harry obsessed for his infatuation with the Halfblood Prince's textbook. But this was different, since Hermione needed to have that notebook in order to communicate with Anonymous while she still didn't know who they were. She guarded it with her life, taking it with her everywhere she went and never letting anyone take a peak. Only once Hermione found the most isolated spot in the Gryffindor Common Room did she write in the book.

_So, how are things since coming back from the holidays? We haven't really had that much of a chance to talk._

**And for a good reason. I've been busy with stuff.**

_What kind of stuff?_

**Stuff that doesn't concern you and stuff that you don't want to know about, trust me.**

_Alright then. How have your classes been?_

**Barely tolerable. I don't really have much time to waste in these pointless lessons this year. I have other priorities.**

_What could be more important than schoolwork?_

**Staying alive.**

Hermione didn't exactly know how to respond to that. There were certain things like this that Anonymous said that caught her off guard and she didn't know how to respond to this. Instead of pressing on the matter, Hermione figured that she'd try and lighten the mood for them.

_There's no need to be that dramatic, it's just school. It might get harder with lessons each year but it'll all be worth it in the end._

**Yeah, yeah. I take it that you're a keener then?**

_If by keener you mean someone who is enthusiastic about learning then yes, I am. With everything that's going on in my life and beyond the Hogwarts grounds, I like having something to distract myself with. School work helps with that. Talking to you does, too._

**I have been told that I am very distracting ;).**

_I'm assuming that you were being arrogant just then._

**You would be assuming correctly. But I guess that you have been equally distracting for me too, in a good way.**

_Well, I'm glad that I can be of assistance then. But don't you have anyone else that you can distract yourself with? Like friends or a girlfriend or boyfriend?_

**My friends are hardly useful for me right now in that way and no, I don't have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. A boyfriend certainly wouldn't be suitable for me considering I am a guy.**

Now _this _was a big clue. Deep down, Hermione had suspected that Anonymous was a guy just based on the way that they wrote. But having actual confirmation that her suspicion was correct narrowed down the list of people that she could be writing to quite significantly. Hermione wondered if they had ever theorised about her like that, so she figured that she'd give them a bone as to who she was as well.

_There's nothing wrong with having a boyfriend as a guy just like there wouldn't be anything wrong with me having a girlfriend as a girl._

**That's easy for you to say.**

_Alright, fair enough. I suppose that everyone has different expectations of them in life as well as opinions that have been influenced by outside sources._

**What do you mean by outside sources?**

_Well, almost every opinion that we can have on something can't be formed on our own without information from other people. It would be like me saying that all magic is bad without knowing anything about it. I used to think that the line with magic was just light and dark, but there is a middle in there. The more magic that I have seen and experienced has made me realise that so-called light spells can cause just as much harm as Dark magic. Things aren't always black and white, and that's one thing I've become forced to realise._

**Well, that's one way of looking at that.**

_What about you? Do you think that there is such thing as good and bad or can people be both?_

**In my experience, there's only ever been good or bad. There has been no in between, especially when most of the people in my life are what you would probably consider to be bad. **

_Then perhaps you should surround yourself with better people._

**Again, that's easy for you to say.**

_We all have the power to choose who we want to associate with. If you don't use that power, you're condemning yourself to unfulfilled relationships that cannot be a good influence on you._

**I don't appreciate being psycho-analysed by someone who barely knows me.**

Even Hermione had to admit that perhaps she was being a bit too imposing and suggestive towards someone that she barely knew, but it was Anonymous who was giving her reasons for having this assumptions in the first place. Hermione knew that she was pushing the boundaries that they had made an unspoken agreement on. But she knew that she was going to have to keep on pressing if she was to get more information.

_That's not true, I know more about you than you might realise. We have been conversing through a magical book for a while now._

**Oh yeah, then prove how much you know about me.**

_Alright then. I know that you're a guy and that you hate hippogriffs and werewolves, but you like kneazles and dragons and have an appreciation for Thestrals. You don't have a girlfriend. You strike me as the arrogant type so I'm assuming that you think that you're a gift to the world. You don't like Christmas. You don't have any brothers or sisters. You go to Hogwarts like me. You seem to be miserable all the time like you're awaiting your impending doom. You like Quidditch, even though for the life of me I can't figure out why anyone would like that stupid sport. You feel abandoned and think that you're a loser like me._

**Hey, there's nothing wrong with Quidditch!**

… _Out of everything I write, that's what you comment on?_

**Of course. Quidditch is an integral part of wizarding culture and a huge part of our history. It's what makes us… wizards. You don't see any muggles flying around on broomsticks and throwing Quaffles in hoops in the air.**

_Quidditch is basically a crossover between football and basketball, two pointless sports that I have no interest in either._

**What are football and basketball?**

Now _this _was a huge clue. From that response, it would be safe to assume that Anonymous was clearly someone who hasn't been exposed to muggle culture before. Although it narrowed her possibilities down quite a bit, Hermione still wasn't too sure who it could be. The chances were that this could very well be a pureblood, but Hermione knew that there were more than just purebloods who were woefully ignorant when it came to muggle culture. Just before Hermione could write down a response, she could feel someone quite literally breathing down her neck.

"Watcha writing there?"

Hermione immediately slammed her book shut and kept it protectively close to her as she turned around to face Ginny, who gave her an odd look at her actions.

"Nothing important," Hermione replied.

"It's obviously important if you slammed it shut and protected it like it's your child," Ginny remarked. "Honestly, that's something Harry would do with the Halfblood Prince's textbook. Actually, he _has _done that with that stupid book."

"Yep, Harry sure is protective of his book…" Hermione trailed off.

"Don't tell me that you've found your own Halfblood Prince book?" Ginny asked.

Well, it wasn't a potions book or anything that allowed her to cheat in class. But it was a book that allowed her to communicate with someone else. But she wasn't going to tell Ginny that. Definitely not.

"No, I don't," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Unlike Harry, I would have enough common sense and decency to not hoard a book that basically feeds me the answers to everything I do in class."

"Then what's the book for?" Ginny asked.

"Why do you care?" Hermione huffed.

Ginny narrowed her eyes, "Why are you acting like it's the end of the world if I find out what's in there?"

"Well, maybe it might be," Hermione replied.

Ginny gasped, "Oh my god, it's your diary, isn't it?"

"I- Well…" Hermione trailed off.

"I didn't think that you were the type to have a diary, Hermione," Ginny commented.

"Okay, you caught me. I have a diary. But it's only because as of lately, I've been feeling as if I need somewhere to vent about my feelings because of your stupid brother," Hermione admitted, and it wasn't completely a lie. She did need somewhere to vent about her feelings, but she wasn't exactly doing it in a diary.

Ginny grimaced, "That's understandable. I know that Harry hasn't exactly been that nice to you either."

"And it's all because I'm looking out for him!" Hermione exclaimed. "Some of those potions and spells in book are things that we've never even heard of. Harry's putting so much faith in the Halfblood Prince even though he seems like the dodgiest character ever. This is like the Firebolt incident in third year all over again."

"Well, I'm sure that Harry will come around eventually. You guys always make up in the end," Ginny reasoned. "As for Ron, I know that he's getting tired of Lavender so it's only a matter of time before they break up. Then you and Ron can be together like you should've been without this mess."

Hermione sighed, "I don't know, I'm not sure if I want to be with Ron like that anymore."

"What? You've liked him since fourth year. What's changed now?" Ginny asked.

"I guess I realised that whenever something goes wrong between us, we always do something stupid to hurt each other. You and I both know that he's only dating Lavender to get back at me which isn't fair to either of us, and by us I mean Lavender and I. I just don't see us having a healthy relationship if we're always going to be arguing and trying to hurt each other," Hermione replied.

"You guys argue like ninety percent of the time," Ginny pointed out.

"Exactly. I don't want to have a relationship that's full of screaming matches. I want to have a relationship that I care about and with someone that I know would never hurt me no matter how difficult I might be to put up with and I don't think that person is Ron," Hermione said.

Ginny sighed, "So, does this mean that there's no chance of us being sister-in-law's anymore?"

Hermione chuckled, "No, at least not right now. But who knows, Ron might end up becoming mature enough for us to be able to have a functional relationship. I suppose I have some maturing to do as well for that to work."

"Damnit," Ginny muttered. "You would've made a _much _better sister-in-law than Phlegm."

"You still don't like her then?" Hermione wondered.

Ginny shook her head, "Merlin, no! She spent Christmas with us, you know. She even insulted Celestina Warbeck. Mum _really _didn't like that. How could she not like Celestina Warbeck?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied.

Having Ginny to entertain now, Hermione had to restrain herself from pulling out her book and writing back to Anonymous. She couldn't have Ginny, let alone anyone else, seeing what she was writing. Of course her conversation with Ginny centred around boys after that, with Ginny lamenting her frustrations about Harry and Dean. Hermione had also plenty of frustrations to vent about Harry and Ron, but she had a new frustration. A frustration in the form of Anonymous.

As much as she seemed to be making progress with them, they were still withholding the truth from her. Knowing that there was a time limit on the books made every conversation critical, so from here on out, Hermione was going to have to do everything she could to figure out who they were or help them before time ran out.

* * *

**So, Hermione's now moved on from Ron and her attention lies solely with Anonymous. For the purpose of story development, I fit in that conversation with Ginny at the end so that Hermione could voice her thoughts about a future with Ron. Now all she has to do is figure out who Anonymous is and things will keep going from there…**


	7. Chapter 7

**I've been on such a writing kick lately that I've been able to get out some of these chapters in the time that I have instead of leaving you guys hanging. It's nice to get feedback on how this is going, so keep it up.**

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Day by day, Hermione found herself growing more attached to Anonymous. It was strange how she was able to become so attached to someone that she didn't even know. Hermione was slowly becoming more dependent on her conversations with Anonymous, so much so that they were the one thing she would always look forward to whenever she woke up. Though it wasn't like they spoke at every waking moment, since Anonymous tended to reply at irregular intervals. It was a shame that there was no alert on the books whenever there was a message, since Hermione just relied on her good timing to see a response form Anonymous.

Their conversations were slowly becoming more meaningful as Anonymous began to open up more, but Hermione wasn't quite ready to take the plunge and try asking what was troubling them again. This was something that she had to take caution with, since Hermione didn't want to push them away after the progress that they had made. But that progress would soon take a halt anyways when Hermione lost herself in Ron again. Her best friend had been poisoned, so Hermione had stayed vigilantly at his bedside despite the fact that he had been such a prick to her all year. It helped that Ron had broken up with Lavender, so he no longer had her influence and their friendship was back on track again.

Although their friendship had changed in a way, since Hermione was no longer pining over Ron while his feelings had clearly changed towards her. It just annoyed Hermione how right when she decided not to waste her time on Ron, he decides to reciprocate her feelings when they were now gone. Nothing could ever be easy when it came to Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, just like how nothing was easy between her and Anonymous. So after realising that four days had passed without corresponding together, Hermione decided to initiate another conversation with them.

_Hello, sorry I haven't talked much in the past few days. Things have been a bit hectic for me at the moment._

**It is quite alright; I haven't had the time to sit and wallow in our own shame. And you mean write, by the way. Since we're not actually talking.**

_Oh, whatever. It's the same difference._

**Not really, since talking is talking while writing is writing and we are writing, not talking.**

_Way to be specific._

**I'm just saying.**

_So, uh… How have you been since we last 'wrote' to each other._

**Pretty crap. Life couldn't get any more complicated.**

There were certain times during their conversations when Hermione didn't know if she should take Anonymous seriously or if they were just being dramatic. They definitely had their dramatic moments, but considering how little Hermione knew about their life, she had to take this one seriously.

_Drama?_

**You could say that. What about yours? You must regale me in all of your thrilling teenage angst.**

_Well, my teenage angst has simmered down recently. There was an… event that prompted Fabian to break up with Joy, so he and Nina are friends again. But it seems now that Fabian is beginning to share the feelings that Nina once had, but she has moved on. I must say that boys are truly quite infuriating with their indecisiveness when it comes to girls._

**Girls are just as infuriating when their desperate clingers. Some guys just need space, you know? But some girls just can't seem to get that message through their thick heads.**

_Lovely alliteration there._

**What?**

_Through their thick heads. That's alliteration._

**Are you a grammar snob or something?**

_I would say so, but there are certain things that I can't help but notice in writing and when people talk. It's funny how people use certain forms of writing and expression without even realising it. Did you know that the muggles use the term grammar Nazi?_

**What the hell is a Nazi?**

Now _that _was a big clue. For Anonymous to not know what a Nazi was, they had to be some kind of pureblood or completely ignorant on muggle history. In Hermione's experience, most wizards and witches were somewhat acquainted with the history on the muggle wars, meaning that they at least knew some of the details. So Hermione was going to keep going with this, and hopefully Anonymous would let something slip that would provide Hermione with an even greater insight into who they were.

_The Nazi's were a group of extremists that heavily supported Adolf Hitler's regime during the muggle Second World War._

**Oh. He's that German guy with the weird looking moustache, right?**

_Yes, that's him. Conveniently, that muggle war took place during the same time that Grindelwald rose to power. It's ironic, considering they both had extremist groups supporting their equally extreme beliefs._

**Well I wouldn't know that part of muggle history since I haven't been able to learn much about it. What did these… Nazi people do?**

_Under Adolf Hitler's regime, they terrorised Jewish people and committed acts of genocide that killed millions of people, with their main targets being Jews. It was a dark time for the muggles, with six years of war being the result of it. They called the genocide 'The Holocaust' and it's one of muggle history's most darkest times._

**Why did the guy hate the Jews so much?**

_Nobody really knows. Hitler was just extremely prejudiced towards them, much like how You-Know-Who is prejudiced against muggleborns._

**So, what you're saying is that these… Nazi's, are the muggle equivalent of the Death Eaters?**

_Well, yes. That would definitely be a fair comparison, just like it would be fair to compare Adolf Hitler to You-Know-Who._

**I'm sure that the Dark Lord is shuddering as he is compared to a muggle.**

When it came to Voldemort's many alias's, Hermione knew that the Dark Lord was generally what his supporters called him, so that gave her a rather unsettling realisation as the possibility of conversing with a Voldemort supporter dawned on her. But Hermione chose to remain ignorant, deciding to believe that it was what they chose to call Voldemort instead of using his name.

_More like recoiling._

**I'd like to see that snake-faced madman do more than recoil.**

_I'm sure that there are more than enough people who would share that same desire._

**Well, I'd get first dibs.**

_So… you are not a supporter?_

**You could say that.**

_Since I certainly don't want to spend the rest of this conversation wishing death on anyone, I would like to change the topic._

**Fair enough. I guess I could use some distraction as well from the looming death. You know, when you first told me about your problems, I hardly had the time and patience to deal with teenage angst when I have far greater concerns on my mind. Now, I only wish that my biggest concerns were schoolwork and teenage angst.**

_We could trade if you want. I could deal with whatever you have to deal with and then you could put up with my idiot friends._

**I certainly lack the patience to deal with idiots, but I'd rather deal with your idiots than my dilemma. I wouldn't have to put up with this nonsense if I just went to Durmstrang. Maybe then my biggest challenge would've just been dealing with the freezing cold mountains.**

_Well, if I had to choose any other school I would've preferred to go to Beauxbatons. I'd probably hardly be able to understand anything at Durmstrang, but I can at least speak French._

**You speak French? So do I.**

Another wave of excitement went through Hermione. This was another clue that she could use to her advantage. There were plenty of times when Anonymous let slip small clues that helped narrow down the possibilities of their identity, but this was a big one. Hermione was still relieved that Anonymous wasn't a Voldemort supporter, but Hermione knew that just because they didn't support them meant nothing. Anonymous could be the kind of person that kept their true political beliefs to themselves which certainly didn't narrow down her options, but it made Hermione more comfortable talking to them. She decided to take a different approach to their conversation now to see if Anonymous would follow it as well.

_J'ai appris le __français_ _en__visitant la France. Comment tu le sais?_

**C'est dans la famille.**

_As-tu déjà__vu visite la France?_

**Quand j'etais jeune. Les accents ****français sur les femmes sont chauds ;).**

_Charmante._

**Toujours suis.**

_Tu aimerais le penser_

**Ouch, insulted in French. That's new for me.**

_So you are privy to insults in English?_

**Only from those who wish they were me.**

_There's that arrogance again. But I'm sure that in your eyes, being you is the least desirable idea on the plant._

**Don't get me wrong, I **_**am **_**irresistible, but my life certainly isn't. It's just one complication after another, especially in recent moments.**

This was Hermione's chance. If she approached this next part of their conversation as cautiously as possible, she might be able to get Anonymous to let something more slip. Hermione had already learned more about them than she hoped she would, so maybe now they would trust her enough to open up even more.

_You know that I am here for you, right? We might not know who we are, but we know more about each other than most of our friends probably do. I trust you, if that helps. I've trusted you enough to tell you things that most people don't even know._

**I'm not sure if I'm crazy for actually considering your offer.**

_You're not crazy, you're trusting. It's okay to trust people, even complete strangers. I might not know about your past interactions with people, but I can assure you that not all strangers are bad._

**I know that. Do you think I would've kept talking to you if that's how I thought about everyone I didn't know? The rational side of my brain is telling me to forget about you, to forget about this. But then there's the other side that's almost desperate for someone to confide in. I've even resorted to talking to a damn **_**ghost **_**for comfort because I have nobody else. It's pathetic, really.**

_It's not pathetic, and you have me as well. I know that you don't appreciate being psycho-analysed, but it really isn't healthy to keep things bottled up inside. If you can't tell anyone you know, you can at least tell me. I won't judge you._

**Sure, that's what you say now. But when you find out who I am and what I've done and what I'm going to do, you'll wish that you'd never had anything to do with me.**

_If it makes you feel any better, I'm in no position to judge anyone for what they've done. I'd like to think that I have a strong moral compass, but I know that it's flawed. Like you, I have done things that I'm not proud of._

**Have you ever tried to kill someone?**

Now that was certainly not a direction that Hermione could foresee this conversation going in. Then again, she really shouldn't be surprised at this revelation considering what she knew about Anonymous so far. Here was where she'd really have to tread carefully.

_It depends, really. I have certainly used my fair share of dangerous spells and weapons against people that could have very likely resulted in death. I will admit that I have wanted to kill certain people, but I have never actually acted upon that since those feelings were a result of negativity that I felt towards certain people. I might feel strong resentment towards people, but not enough to actually try to kill them._

**People talk about murder like it's nothing sometimes. You'll hear those bloody Aurors talking about how many people they've offed just because it's part of their job. I never even thought of murder as something serious before. The way I viewed it was if someone was in your way, murder was one way to get rid of them. Then there's 'self-defence' which is something else entirely. I'm not gonna lie, I've even wished death upon people but I could never and have never been able to comprehend actually wanting someone dead.**

_That's… an interesting way of explaining things. I don't understand how you could wish death upon someone without wanting them dead though._

**Words are complicated sometimes. You say things without realising the gravity of your words until you're faced with that reality.**

_So, what you're saying is that you have wanted people dead in the past but now that you're faced with the reality of actually having to kill someone, you don't want to do it?_

**We're going into a war. At some point or another, we're going to have to kill someone. But as they say about the Unforgivable Curses, to actually perform them well you have to **_**actually **_**want to perform them.**

As the conversation went on, Hermione was slowly beginning to paint a picture in her head and she wasn't liking it one bit. Based on what she could figure out, Anonymous was facing the reality of having to kill someone. Anonymous had tried arguing it as a result of war, but Hermione suspected that the truth ran far deeper than that. Hermione could understand having to face the reality of killing someone, since that was something that Harry struggled with every day. After all, he was the saviour of the world and was expected to kill Voldemort.

But who was Anonymous expected to kill then? Hermione couldn't say who, since she didn't know anything about where their allegiances stood in the war. They clearly didn't support Voldemort, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be on his side. This was beginning to take a very unexpected turn now and Hermione truthfully didn't know how she was supposed to respond to this.

Perhaps she had bitten off more than she could chew.

* * *

**So Anonymous (Draco) finally let something more slip to Hermione, only it's left her a bit unsettled now as she contemplates the possibility of what could be going on with them. Their conversation on Voldemort and Hitler are my thoughts exactly, since Voldemort basically is the Wizarding Worlds equivalent of Hitler since Hitler prosecuted Jews like Voldemort prosecuted muggleborns. In my headcannon, Hermione knows French from muggle school and because she visited France after second year, and since the Malfoy side of Draco's family is French, I would imagine that he would know the language too. Sorry if I butchered the translations, I used good old google translate for that. My school didn't offer French, so I only ever learnt Japanese and Spanish. Anyways, next chapter sees Hermione discover the identity of Anonymous so that's something to look forward to ;).**


	8. Chapter 8

**It's been so wonderful getting some of the feedback that I've received for this story so I really am glad to see that there are people out there reading and enjoying what I've got going here. You guys will also be happy to know that I have finished planning the story and it will have 19 official chapters with four bonus chapters, so there will be 23 chapters overall. Here comes the chapter that I'm sure you've all been looking forward to, Hermione finding out the identity of Anonymous.**

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Upon deciding that she was going to find out who Anonymous was, Hermione had to decide how she was going to handle this situation. Hermione knew that she couldn't just outrightly ask them who they were, since there was no way that she would get anywhere by doing that. Hermione was just going to have to handle this like she had handled their conversations so far, with stealth and sneakiness. But first, Hermione had to write down the facts about Anonymous that she had established so far in the hopes that she would be able to figure out their identity that way.

So while Hermione found herself holed up in Gryffindor Tower, she was jotting down notes on everything that she had learned about Anonymous. It wasn't until Hermione was making these notes that she realised just how much she actually knew about them, since beforehand Hermione didn't think that she knew enough about Anonymous to figure out their identity based on clues.

**Facts About Anonymous**

_They speak French.  
They like dragons, kneazles and Thestrals – possible fan of Crookshanks?  
Enjoy Quidditch, though I can't imagine why  
Seem to be egotistical  
Surrounded by negative influences  
Did not know what football, basketball or Nazi's were – possible pureblood or halfblood?  
Worried about surviving  
Only child, their father does not seem to be in the picture  
Come across as miserable in communication, perhaps that is how they look in person?  
Feels abandoned_

Although Hermione might have known a lot about Anonymous, any details that she had were obscure. The main clues that Hermione had might have narrowed down the possibilities, but there was still more than a few options to leave room for speculation. It was just frustrating that Hermione didn't have their letters to look through, since that would've made this much more easier.

What Hermione did first was write down a list of everyone that she knew who was an only child and then cancelled out the possibilities based on the facts that she knew. That only left Hermione with a few options, and when her gaze landed on one name, she just about threw up in her mouth.

_Draco Malfoy._

As much as Hermione hated to admit it, the facts were beginning to make sense now. Of course Draco Malfoy would speak French, since that is where his family originally came from. Then there was the fact that Draco literally meant dragon in Latin, and he was also one of the most popular Quidditch fanatics that Hermione knew of. Draco Malfoy was also probably the most egotistical person that Hermione had ever come across in her life, though he did seem a lot more reserved this year.

It would make sense for Anonymous to be ignorant on muggle topics if they were Draco Malfoy, someone who would have next to no knowledge on muggles and how they work. Draco was also an only child, and Hermione knew that because of his fathers recent stint in Azkaban that his mother would be all he had. The facts were aligning, and Hermione didn't like it. She did not want to believe it at all.

"It can't be him. It just… can't," Hermione whispered to herself.

Surely there could be any other explanation. There just _had _to be. Hermione refused to believe that Draco Malfoy could be Anonymous. Although they had only corresponded through magical books, Hermione had actually grown to care for Anonymous. She did not think that she could care for Draco. But she cared for Anonymous, and if that's who Draco was, then Hermione would just have to help them in any other way.

Hermione suddenly remembered how Anonymous had mentioned talking to ghosts, and she recalled how Harry had mentioned that Draco had started confiding in Myrtle. That was another similarity between Anonymous and Draco, but Hermione's first thought was to figure out what Draco had told Myrtle. So it was just her luck that Harry chose that moment to enter the Gryffindor Common Room, which gave her the perfect chance to get that information from him.

"Hey, Harry!" Hermione called out to him.

"Oh, hi, Hermione," Harry greeted her.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

Harry narrowed his eyes, "What?"

"Well, when you said that Malfoy was talking to Myrtle, did she tell you what he was talking to her about?" Hermione wondered.

"She didn't say much, since apparently Malfoy put some kind of silencing spell on her so she can't repeat whatever he's said. But Myrtle did say that apparently he's just so _sensitive _and that he's not afraid to cry and talk about his feelings," Harry answered in a mocking tone.

"Maybe he is," Hermione murmured.

"Why are you suddenly wondering about this?" Harry asked.

"I was just thinking about it, that's all," Hermione replied as she began gathering her stuff to leave.

"Where are you going?" Harry called out to her.

"Somewhere," was Hermione's reply.

Truth be told, Hermione didn't know where she was going. All Hermione did was find a place outside Gryffindor Tower where she could write in her book. Hermione had quickly thought of a plan that would help her confirm if Draco was in fact Anonymous. If Anonymous didn't turn out to be Draco, hopefully her plan would lead her to who they were.

_Hello._

**Whatever.**

_Someone's in a mood._

**And you expect me to be in a good one?**

_I guess I don't know. Maybe if you told me why you were in such a sour mood, I could help you?_

**Nice try.**

_Hey, we already made some progress the other day with what you told me. Surely you haven't forgotten that?_

**No, I haven't. And I would appreciate it if you would just forget it because I'm beginning to think that even letting anything slip to you was a mistake.**

_Alright, I suppose you're entitled to your own secrets. But I know a way that could cheer you up!_

**And what would that be?**

_Have you ever heard of the game 'I Spy?'_

**I don't know.**

_The game where you say 'I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…'_

**Oh, that juvenile game. Yes, I've heard of it. How could that cheer me up?**

_Well, it would take your mind off of whatever it is that's bothering you by focusing it on something entirely different. _

**I suppose that makes sense.**

_Then I guess that I'll start us off. Alright, I spy with my little eye, something beginning with C._

What followed was a lengthy game of I Spy between Hermione and Anonymous. It was almost amusing to Hermione with some of the words that they were able to come up with. Their words were the most obscure words Hermione could think of, and it didn't give her that much help in figuring out where they were. There were a lot of times when Anonymous got off on technicalities that would be classed a cheating, which was a classic Slytherin tactic in anything, even in something as simple as a game of I Spy.

The whole time, Hermione couldn't help but think about every conversation that they had prior to this moment. Hermione had to admit that perhaps in hindsight, communicating with stranger through a diary probably wasn't the wisest idea. She really had no idea who she was dealing with, and this could result in her getting involved in something even more dangerous than what she was already a part of.

In the beginning, her intentions had been purely selfish since Hermione was just looking for any sort of comfort and a place to vent, even if it was in a mysterious diary that she didn't quite understand. But then she had kept it going because she was intrigued. The more that Hermione wrote to them, the more she began to care for them. Only now did Hermione realise how silly she had been, to care for someone who she didn't know and probably didn't even care for her. But Hermione hadn't been able to help herself. She'd willingly walked into a dangerous game without know just how serious it was.

It was hard to deny that Hermione had grown to care for Anonymous, but could she bring herself to care for Draco Malfoy? Of course Hermione had noticed how different he had been acting this year, with the way that he had become more withdrawn and less like his usual obnoxious self. Hermione had just thought that it was because of his fathers recent imprisonment in Azkaban. She had never suspected that perhaps Harry was right and that Draco had gotten involved with the Death Eaters, but after him becoming a possibility, Hermione had to admit that perhaps Harry hadn't been that far off in his initial theory.

All of this speculation was just doing Hermione's head in. She needed to find out who the identity of Anonymous was once and for all. And luckily for her, she was getting closer with every clue that Anonymous had her decipher.

**Give me something beginning with S.**

_Stone?_

**Close, but no.**

_Sun?_

**Yes, but not what I'm referring to.**

_I guess it would be silly of me to suggest the sky then. What about students?_

**Nope, just me.**

_Since you just love going for the technicalities, how about Scotland?_

**Not it.**

All that Hermione had managed to get from this game was that Anonymous was clearly outside the castle and that they were alone. It did narrow down a few potential locations, but it didn't help that it was almost dinner time anyways so that would mean that there would be plenty of people roaming around the castle. Hermione then started thinking of possible locations of where they could be when the possibility suddenly hit her.

_What about a sundial?_

**Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.**

Unless there was some other sundial in Hogwarts, Hermione figured that they could only be referring to the Sundial Garden, which just so happened to be the same place where Hermione punched Draco in their third year. He had certainly deserved the punch then, though Hermione wasn't so sure if that was how she'd react if she found him there now. Hermione didn't even know who she wanted to see there, or if she was even okay with it being Draco. If their conversations in the books were anything to go by, the chances were that Draco wouldn't want her help just like Anonymous didn't.

In that moment, Hermione stood there in silence, unsure of what to do. Did she really want to know who Anonymous was? Was it that important that she found out their identity? Would Draco even want anything to do with her if he knew that she was the one that he had been communicating with? But despite her worries, Hermione felt like she owed it to Anonymous, regardless of who they were.

"Why do I have to have such a bleeding heart?" Hermione muttered to herself.

Against her better judgement, Hermione decided to go ahead with her initial plan and find out who Anonymous was. Her curiosity hadn't stopped her so far, so how could it stop her now?

The walk to the Sundial Garden was probably the longest walk in Hermione's life. With each step that she took, Hermione fond her nerves growing more intense by the minute. The thought of discovering who Anonymous was just made her stomach turn. Hermione had already prepared herself for the possibility that Anonymous would be Draco, but Hermione just didn't know how she would actually react to Draco being Anonymous.

Taking one final pause, Hermione hesitated for one more moment before bracing herself for what… or _who _she was about to see. Sure enough, sitting right in the middle of the Sundial Garden with a book in his hands was none other than Draco Malfoy, which certainly complicated things a fair bit.

* * *

**And there you have it, Hermione now knows the identity of Anonymous. Hopefully the reveal wasn't too anticlimactic for anyone. I'd always intended for Hermione to discover their identity based on their surroundings, but it wasn't until recently that I thought of putting in I Spy. Now things are certainly going to get interesting now, and you'll get to have your first proper Dramione interaction soon enough.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Now it's time for things to really get interesting with this story ;). This is time for the Dramione goodness to really kick in so I hope you guys enjoy it.**

* * *

Despite realising that Draco was in fact Anonymous, it actually took Hermione a few moments to take it all in. She just stood there, completely gobsmacked at what she had just discovered. Out of all the possibilities, Hermione would have never considered Draco Malfoy to be Anonymous. One thing for sure was that Hermione didn't know what to think or what to feel about this new development.

_What am I supposed to do now?_

It was almost humorous to Hermione how she had discovered his identity through a simple game of I Spy. Hermione would've thought that someone like Draco would've picked up on what she was trying to achieve with their little game. But the fact that he does seem to be so paranoid about whatever is troubling him might be why he wasn't paranoid enough to think about what she was doing.

Hermione could certainly spy Draco Malfoy with her little eye, but she wasn't sure if she was bold enough to say that. It would certainly leave room for an interesting conversation, one that she didn't know that she was prepared to have. Now probably wasn't even the best of times to make a move on Draco. Hermione figured that she'd be better off letting the situation simmer, no matter how desperate she was to figure out just what was going on with him.

So with that in mind, Hermione gathered herself and left the Sundial Garden, completely stumped with what she was supposed to do now.

~*•°•*~

In the following days, Hermione paid very close attention to Draco. She wasn't as obvious as Harry was with his stalking tendencies, since Hermione was pretty sure that he probably knew that Harry was watching him because of how obvious Harry was. Hermione used the time that she spent watching Draco to really think about how she was going to handle this situation.

There was no doubt in her mind that if she revealed her identity to him that Draco would lose it. He didn't even tolerate her as he knew her so why on earth would that change just because she was who he had been talking to? One thing that Hermione considered was if she was really that desperate to help Anonymous that she would be willing to get involved with Draco Malfoy's mess? Draco had always been up to no good, and if his words were anything to go by, whatever he was involved with now certainly wasn't good either.

Could she even do anything to help him? Hermione knew that Draco Malfoy was no idiot, and that if he actually was in serious trouble that he would know where to go. So did he even _want _to be helped? The way that he had communicated her certainly implied that he didn't want anything to do with anyone. Should she even help him at all? There was no doubt in Hermione's mind that he wouldn't offer the same help to her. So was it even worth helping someone that wouldn't give her the same in return?

Then there was the fact that over the past six years, Draco had been nothing but horrid to her. He always seemed determined to minimise her self-worth with the degrading ways that he spoke about her and her blood status. Draco Malfoy was a flat-out bully, and he had shown no redeeming qualities to Hermione over the time that they had known each other. He probably didn't even want to be redeemed, because if he did, he would've done so by now.

"Draco Malfoy is not worth my time," Hermione muttered.

That was what Hermione had to convince herself, though she was seriously doubting if she actually meant what she was trying to say. Why would she even care about Draco when he has never once cared about her? He's certainly made that clear with the amount of times that he's bullied her and mocked who she was. The only reason that Hermione could even think of as to why she would want to bother with him is because he was Anonymous. Hermione certainly didn't care about Draco, but she did care about Anonymous. That much she could say.

But it was impossible to separate them when they were literally the same person. As much as Hermione wanted to think of Anonymous as someone other than Draco, all she could think about was the fact that Draco was Anonymous. Watching Draco didn't really give Hermione anything to go on. All she could see was that he was clearly miserable, but a small vindictive part of Hermione was thinking that perhaps he deserved it for trying to make her life miserable on a daily basis.

With that in mind, Hermione didn't want to give him any help. Why should she, when he sure as hell wouldn't do the same for her? But despite that, Hermione still wanted to see where a small conversation would take them. So against her better judgement, she managed to steal a moment with Draco when it was just the two of them alone after she had come up with an excuse to speak to him.

"Hello, Malfoy," she greeted him.

"What do you want, Granger?" he growled.

"I wanted to ask why you have been neglecting your prefect duties," Hermione said.

"That's none of your business," Draco snarled.

"Actually, as a fellow prefect, it is," Hermione said as she put her hands on her hips and stood face to face with him. "All prefects are required to follow their rostered schedule and you have been neglecting your duties for the entire year, leaving the rest of us to pick up your slack so I demand to know what else has you otherwise occupied."

"If you must know," Draco drawled. "I have far more important things to do than to waste my time with such activities. Why don't you ask Potter, since he seems to be following my every move."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You have no right to abandon your duties because of whatever else you are wasting your time with."

"I am not wasting my time," Draco seethed.

"Well then, what could be more important than being a role model student that has you being a complete dunce?" Hermione asked.

"Typical Granger, always trying to insert yourself into other peoples business," Draco jeered. "Why don't you insert yourself up Weasleys arse? I heard that Brown got tired of him. You should shoot your shot now, but you'd probably miss it. Weasley wouldn't even want you anyways. He and Potter only keep you around for your brains."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione snarled.

Draco shrugged, "I'm just saying that anyone would have to be pretty desperate to want anything from you. I never would've guessed that Weasley would have standards, but I guess they must be pretty low since he settled for Brown anyways."

"I don't care about what you have to say, Malfoy," Hermione stated, even though she secretly had to admit that she kind of did.

"Then why ask for it?" Draco remarked.

"Because I-" Hermione stammered. "You know what, screw you, Malfoy."

Draco snorted, "I could get anyone to do that for me. You, on the other hand, would have to find a pretty desperate sod to drop your knickers for. Maybe Longbottom doesn't have any standards?"

"You know what, Draco Malfoy, you are nothing but a big, insufferable bully!" Hermione scowled.

"You flatter me, Granger," Draco smirked.

Giving him one last glare, Hermione turned on her heels and walked away with a newly formed burning hatred inside of her. Hermione didn't know what she had been thinking when she thought that she could've gotten somewhere with Draco in just one conversation. They've been rivals for the better part of six years now, and he had been nothing but a bully to her. Even in that one conversation, he had been a bully by insulting her at least three times. How dare he imply that anyone would have to be desperate to want something from her? If only he knew that _she _was the one who he had been communicating with for the better part of the year.

All things considered; one thing had been made clear to Hermione after that conversation. Draco Malfoy was most definitely _not _worth her time.

~*•°•*~

That night, sleep eluded Hermione. She tossed and turned in her bed, desperate to get an ounce of sleep. Her actual conversation with Draco seemed to be plaguing on her mind. When she did get some sleep, it plagued her dreams too.

_Hermione didn't know where she was. All she could see was darkness. She knew it was a dream, but everything was so clear to her, even if it was just darkness. Then Hermione heard evil cackling and cries of pain that sent shivers down her spine._

"_Hello? Who's there?" she asked._

_The darkness turned bright and Hermione was given a clear picture view of what she was seeing. Hermione recoiled in horror as she saw Draco being brutally tortured by Voldemort. Voldemort was relentless as he used curse after curse on Draco. He was covered in blood – his own blood. The sight sickened Hermione._

_In a desperate attempt to help, Hermione lunged forward, only to be blocked by some sort of force field. Voldemort's evil cackle haunted Hermione, but what struck her more were Draco's cries of pain._

"_Stop it! Let him go!" she tried pleading, only the force field seemed to be prohibiting any sort of contact._

"**You could have saved him from this fate. Now look at him," **_a booming voice echoed from nowhere._

"_Let me save him now then!" Hermione pleaded._

"_Foolish girl!" Voldemort bellowed as he faced her. "There is nothing you can do now. People call me a monster for what I have done, yet you showed that same amount of evil when you refused to help him!"_

"_No! I am nothing like you!" Hermione screamed._

_All she could do was stand there and watch helplessly as Voldemort continued to torture Draco until it looked like he was on the brink of death. It was truly a horrific sight that made Hermione's blood boil, but there was nothing she could do. Only once Draco looked like he was about to fade away did Voldemort hold himself back from torturing Draco as he turned to look at Hermione._

"_Why Granger? Why wasn't I worth your time? You could have saved me," Draco's broken voice said._

"_I'm sorry! I didn't think it would come to this!" Hermione sobbed._

"_But it did. And now, I am to die because of you," Draco declared._

_And just like that, Draco laid dead on the floor as Voldemort cackled around him. Hermione screeched out a sob as she fell to the ground, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt consume her. When Hermione looked back up again, Voldemort was pointing his wand at her with a sinister look on his face as he sent a blast at her that caused Hermione to go tumbling backwards._

_It was unlike anything that Hermione had ever experienced as she felt like she was falling next. The sensation ended when Hermione landed on the surface with a loud thump. Groaning as she looked up, Hermione gasped as she saw Draco crouched beside her with a twisted smirk on his face._

"_Hello, Granger," Draco sneered._

"_B-but… y-you were dead," Hermione stuttered._

"_You'll wish that I was!" Draco bellowed as he raised his wand at her. "Crucio!"_

_Pain instantly surged through Hermione, and it was unlike anything that she had ever experienced in a dream before. Hermione had to believed that it was a dream despite the fact that everything felt so real. It was agonising as Hermione writhed on the floor as a result of Draco's continuous use of the Cruciatus Curse. Finally, the pain stopped as Draco withdrew his attacks and Hermione managed to look him in the eye, which he returned with a burning look of hatred._

"**You didn't help him, so how can he help you now? He will be your end," **_the familiar voice echoed again._

"_P-please, Malfoy. S-stop. You d-don't want to do t-this," Hermione pleaded, coughing up blood._

"_I've never wanted to do anything more than to make you suffer, you filthy little mudblood," Draco spat._

"_It's what she deserves, Draco," came Voldemort's familiar voice as he appeared next to Draco. "If she refused to help you without even giving you a chance, why should you waste your time with her?"_

"_She is not worth my time," Draco proclaimed._

"_You silly, silly, little girl," Voldemort mocked her as he and Draco circled around. "To think that you might have actually succeeded in saving him if you had the decency to give him a chance. Now, he will be your end."_

"_Get ready to turn the lights out, Granger," Draco snarled._

_What came next were the two twin cries of 'Avada Kedavra' and a blinding green light._

After that, Hermione bolted upwards in her bed, sweating and panting as she recoiled from the nightmare that she had woken up from. It had truly been a nightmare like none other. Never before had Hermione experienced a nightmare that she could remember with such detail. Most of the time, she would wake up knowing that she'd just experienced a nightmare but could never remember what it exactly entailed. Only this one was clear and fresh in memory.

It was hard to describe it, but Hermione felt an instant pang of guilt knowing that she had just abandoned Draco like that when he clearly needed help. She hated to think that by refusing to offer her help, she would be sealing their fates to end with pain and suffering. Hermione figured that her nightmare was just a reminder that she should still try, even if he wouldn't let her in. For all she knew, Hermione could end up changing the fate of the whole world if she just extended her help to Draco. So with that in mind, Hermione knew what she needed to do now no matter how much she was dreading it.

And since she had managed to get in through their journals, she would just have to get in as Hermione if it would help her conscience sleep at night.

* * *

**So we finally got a Dramione interaction in here, even if it wasn't the best of ones. You really didn't think that it would be so easy for Hermione to just want to help her bully and rival like that, huh? Now prepare yourselves for some fireworks, and I'll see you guys next year with the rest of the story.**


	10. Chapter 10

Deciding to help Draco hadn't necessarily been an easy decision for Hermione, since she doubted that the Slytherin would even want her help. But whenever Hermione thought about just leaving him to fend for himself, she got this nagging feeling in her conscience that she knew wouldn't go away until she helped Draco. Of course, the first thing that she had to do was actually tell him who she was, which was more than the obnoxious know-it-all that he had always referred to her as. She was the person who he had unknowingly been communicating with through a magically enchanted book.

Every time Hermione thought about telling him the truth, she always chickened out at the last minute. Her Gryffindor bravado wasn't really coming through when she needed it to. Hermione had definitely wondered how the revealing conversation would go down. In some scenarios, Draco would be understanding and let her know what was so troubling. But then for the most part, the scenarios that she had imagined did not end in a good way. In one of them, Draco was so enraged by the fact that it was her who he had been communicating with that he dragged her straight to Voldemort and watched her as she was tortured, just like he did in her nightmare.

Although Draco might be a rotten turd, Hermione hoped that he at least wouldn't put her through that. When she was talking to Anonymous, it really did seem like they didn't want to do what they were being forced to do, so Hermione could only hope that her interpretations of Draco's intentions were correct. But first she had to tell him, which was proving to be difficult on its own. Despite the fact that Hermione had chickened out of confronting him numerous times, there were a few times when she had actually tracked him down with the intention of telling him, only for Draco to seemingly disappear into thin air.

So after nearly two weeks of no progress and awkward conversations with Anonymous through their journals, Hermione finally decided that she had procrastinated on her mission long enough. When it came to tracking Draco down, Hermione had been at a loss on how she was supposed to do that without him noticing her, until Hermione remembered the Marauder's Map and the invisibility cloak, which she ended up borrowing from Harry by saying that she would help him with his Malfoy stalking.

It became clear that Draco was definitely up to something, since he always seemed to go to the same place before his name would disappear. According to Harry, the map was supposed to show where everyone was at every moment, so it was impossible for Draco's name to disappear like it would. After being fed up of losing Draco at the same place every time, Hermione finally decided to actively follow him and find out just where he was disappearing to.

What soon became clear to Hermione was that Draco certainly wasn't disappearing out of the school, because it had completely slipped Hermione's mind as to what exactly was on this particular floor. Hermione mentally smacked herself when she realised that Draco was going to the Room of Requirement. How could she have forgotten that room, when she had spent so much time there the year before?

Whatever Draco was doing in the Room of Requirement, it was definitely secretive since it didn't take Hermione long to realise that he was having two people guard the entrance. They weren't anybody that Hermione remembered seeing before, but they weren't anybody that Hermione thought would help Draco Malfoy do his bidding. But as the days passed and Hermione made no progress with her attempts to contact Draco, she knew that she would have to do something to get her inside the Room of Requirement.

Thanks to some clever spell work, Hermione was able to distract the bodyguards so that she could enter the room after Draco in an attempt to trap him and coerce him into a confrontation. What she found inside the Room of Requirement certainly wasn't the training room that Hermione had used the year before. Instead, it was a room full of mess that Hermione suspected was the Room of Requirement in its original form. There really was anything and everything in this room, but Hermione wasn't here to borrow anything. She was here to confront Draco Malfoy no matter how terrifying that thought might've been.

"I can't fucking do it," she heard the laboured mutters of Draco.

Hermione took a deep breath and summoned all of her Gryffindor courage to make her presence known, "And what exactly would that be, Malfoy?"

Hermione had never seen anyone turn around so fast before in her life. The pure shock on Draco's face when he saw her standing there was obvious before it turned to pure rage, which immediately unsettled Hermione.

"Granger," he seethed. "What the fuck do you think you're doing in here? How do you even know about this place?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Gee, I don't know. Maybe because I used this room as a hideout for my secret organisation last year? You were there when that hideous toad busted in and ruined everything."

"Well, you're going to ruin everything for me if you don't leave me alone," Draco snarled.

"And just what is it that's gotten you so shaken, _Anonymous_?" Hermione asked, hoping that he would catch onto her obvious hint.

Draco's eyes widened more than Hermione ever thought possible. There was a tense silence that came over them before Hermione could feel the rage building up inside Draco, prompting her to brace herself for the worst. To Hermione's complete surprise, he started laughing. But it wasn't any ordinary laugh. It was the kind of laugh that sent shivers down Hermione's spine.

"Out of everyone in the fucking universe, it had to be you, didn't it?" Draco spat. "How did you even get in here? This place is supposed to be guarded!"

"Whoever your guards are, they did a terrible job since I only had to do a small bit of magic to have them distracted so that I could slip inside," Hermione replied.

"How did you find me?" Draco demanded.

"Let's just say that you're not as discrete with your secretiveness as you might think," Hermione said.

"Fine, Granger. You caught me. I'm using the Room of Requirement. Now fuck off!" Draco yelled.

"And just what purpose do you have for this room?" Hermione wondered.

"None. Of. Your. Fucking. Business," Draco growled.

"I would appreciate it if you refrained from swearing at me with every damn sentence," Hermione stated.

Draco glared at her, "If you're so bothered by my fucking swearing then fuck off."

"No, I won't," Hermione stood her ground. "You don't intimidate me, Draco Malfoy. You may have in the past, but not anymore."

"Why? Because I'm your precious Anonymous?" Draco drawled.

"Perhaps, but mostly because you have certainly lost your intimidation and fear factor this year. You just look like a mess, even now as you try your hardest to threaten me and tell me what to do," Hermione stated.

"You've never been one to do what people tell you to do anyways, Granger," Draco said.

"Exactly, which is why I won't just leave because you're telling me to," Hermione remarked.

"If you're not gonna fucking leave, then I'll do that myself. You have no business here, Granger. And if you knew what was I doing then you certainly wouldn't want to help me either," Draco barked.

"Just please, let me help you," Hermione pleaded as she grabbed hold of his left arm in an attempt to stop him from leaving.

Draco hissed as she grabbed hold of his arm and gave her a deathly glare. He then grabbed her other arm in retaliation and pinned her up against the nearest cupboard, his steel grey eyes maintaining their fierce glare.

"I don't want your fucking help, Granger! So do us both a favour and leave me the fuck alone because there is nothing that you can do, not that I even want it from you anyways," Draco snarled.

Hermione gulped, "Malfoy, I remember what you said to me in those journals. Whatever it is that you have to do, I know that it's against your own will. You don't want this. I can help you. If anyone can help you, it's me."

"Nobody can help me, especially you," Draco said through his gritted teeth, his grip tightening on Hermione's wrist.

"You don't have to face this alone, Malfoy," Hermione insisted.

Draco scoffed, "That's easy for you to say."

"No, it's not. You don't have to face this alone if you'll just let me help you. Please," Hermione pleaded.

"I'm only going to say this one more time, Granger," Draco growled as he pulled out his wand and pointed at Hermione's chest. "_Stay away from me_. Forget about me. Forget about the stupid books that we never should've messed with to begin with. I never wanted any part of you to begin with, and I certainly don't want any part of you now. So just fuck off."

"Or else what?" Hermione tried her best to sound intimidating.

"Oh, Granger. You don't even want to _think _of what I'm capable of," Draco chuckled darkly.

"I'm not scared of you, Draco Malfoy," Hermione said.

"That's your third mistake then," Draco snarled.

"What were my first two?" Hermione asked.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Not giving up on the stupid books and interfering with my life. Now give up on the stupid books and stop interfering with my life because after this, I'm never going to speak to you again."

"I won't stop trying," Hermione insisted.

"Just forget about it, for fucks sake!" Draco roared.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "If you want me to forget about it so badly, then why don't you just obliviate me?"

For a moment, Hermione seriously thought that Draco was going to do it when he grabbed hold of his wand. But then he just gave her one last stern glare before storming off, leaving Hermione slightly frazzled from the turn of events. Realistically, she hadn't expected him to react well to her identity. Despite that, Hermione hadn't expected him to actually hurt her, since she had been surprised by the force that he had used to squeeze her wrist which had left some slight bruising.

All Hermione could do was stand there in wonder as she wondered what on earth Draco Malfoy was up to. Whatever it was, Hermione knew that it couldn't be good. But despite her reservations about getting involved with Draco's mess, Hermione had said that she would help him, and she could already feel her conscience nagging at her when she considered just letting it go.

Damn her conscience.

~*•°•*~

True to his word, Draco went out of his way to avoid Hermione after the incident in the Room of Requirement. In any of their classes together, he would sit as far away from her as possible and wouldn't even look at her. Even his rude remarks and bullying behaviour towards her had stopped. In a strange way, Hermione missed it. At least it was better than him just obviously ignoring her.

Along with ignoring her in person, Draco also wasn't responding to her in the book. Truthfully, Hermione had expected that to happen. However, that didn't make it any easier. She was trying to reach out to him, but all he was doing was pushing her away. Hermione had probably taken up about two pages alone in her book that was just her trying to get Draco to write back to her, only to get nothing in return.

As she tried getting some sort of response from Draco, Hermione was also contemplating what could be bothering him so much. There was a lot to consider, but what had stood out to Hermione was what she saw when she confronted him in the Room of Requirement. At the time, Hermione hadn't even paid any sort of attention to what he was doing, but upon some reflection, she realised that he had been standing near a vanishing cabinet. Hermione remembered it because of what happened last year when Fred and George managed to get Graham Montague stuck in there when he tried to take points from them. Although Montague had managed to get out via apparition, his exit from the vanishing cabinet proved to be nearly fatal.

"What is he even doing with it?" Hermione muttered to herself as she mulled over the situation in her room by herself.

Of all the things, that was not what Hermione expected him to be messing around with. But then Hermione remembered what the purpose of the vanishing cabinet was actually for. To provide a pathway to a twin somewhere. There was also the fact that Draco had been poking around with the vanishing cabinet at Borgin and Burkes before the school year began. This left her with more questions than answers. Was he trying to repair the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement? _Why _would he be trying to repair it? Who would he be trying to let in?

"Death Eaters," Hermione whispered, remembering how Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback had been amongst the people who had accompanied Draco inside Borgin and Burkes.

It would make sense, given how nobody was able to apparate inside Hogwarts which was what made it safe from Death Eaters and other outsiders. The vanishing cabinet would be the most discrete way to enter the castle without being spotted. But surely that alone wouldn't be enough to have Draco as rattled as he seemed to be. Whatever he was involved with had to be something greater, had to be something more devastating than simply providing a passage for Death Eaters to enter the castle.

That's when it hit Hermione.

All throughout the year, Hermione had been dismissing Harry's concerns that Draco was officially a Death Eater. She had dismissed Harry's concerns about what Draco was up to, and about what he had done. Only now she was beginning to realise them. The mead. The necklace. Katie. Ron. It was all beginning to make sense now as the pieces slowly came together in Hermione's mind.

When they saw Katie with the cursed necklace, she had been insistent that it had to be delivered to Dumbledore. That was before she touched it and cursed herself, preventing her from succeeding in delivering it to Dumbledore. Then there was the poisoned mead that had nearly killed Ron. Slughorn had admitted that he'd intended to give it as a gift to Dumbledore. Had he done so; Dumbledore would have been the one to be poisoned. So unless Hermione was jumping to unrealistic conclusions like Harry, Draco was faced with the task of assassinating Dumbledore.

Now that would certainly be enough to rattle anyone.

"No wonder he seems so stressed," Hermione muttered.

Knowing that she had to do something, Hermione pulled out her book and wrote down at the bottom of the last page.

_I know what you're up to, Malfoy. And as disturbing as it is, my offer to help you still stands._

As she had written it at the bottom of the page, Hermione waited for the writing on the pages to erase themselves as they normally did. Only that's not what happened. Hermione just stared at the book, waiting and waiting for something to happen. But the words remained the same. There was no free space, and Hermione had no idea what was happening. This was unlike anything that Hermione had experienced with the book so far. Why weren't the words being erased?

In the back of her mind, Deidre Dalelio's words became a reminder: I mean that they can only correspond with each other for a certain amount of time before they become useless and are just like any other ordinary book without special powers.

"No, no, no, no!" Hermione exclaimed. "Please don't tell me that it's finished. Not now when I need it most."

Desperate to get some kind of response from the book, Hermione filled up every last space on the two pages, only to get nothing in return. With a frustrated sigh, Hermione threw the book onto the floor as she slid down the wall. That was it. The book was finished. Of course it had to happen now, and there was nothing she could do.

A sudden thumping noise caught Hermione's attention, and she glanced forward, only to narrow her eyebrows in suspicion when she saw the journal bouncing around on the floor. Carefully, Hermione approached the journal that simply wouldn't stop bouncing. Just as Hermione was about to bend down to pick it up, the journal burst open and she found herself being slapped in the face with a piece of paper. As Hermione pulled it away, her eyes widened as she recognised the words on the paper. The words of the very first message that they had ever sent to each other.

**I'm only now just starting to realise how royally fucked I am. I never should've allowed myself to be dragged into this fucking mess to begin with, but I can't go back and change it now. What the fuck am I going to do?**

_You should watch your foul language._

As Hermione looked over the rest of the paper, she realised that it was definitely the first message that they had sent to each other. But how was this possible? Hermione thought that their words were supposed to disappear, not reappear. She then glanced back down at the book that continued to jump around before more papers started shooting out of it and all over the room at an uncontrollable pace.

It was unlike anything that Hermione had ever seen from a book before. Granted, this wasn't just any normal book. Even with this book, it was hard to believe that it was just spewing out paper after paper until finally, it stopped. The papers had certainly made a mess of Hermione's dorm, so she quickly sprung into action and made sure that she collected every piece of paper. The more papers that Hermione found, the more confused she became as she realised that on every piece of paper was a conversation that Hermione had had with Draco as Anonymous.

"How is this possible?" Hermione wondered before her gaze landed on the last exchange that they had had before she found out who Anonymous was.

_What is it going to take for me to make you realise that I can help you?_

**For me to trust that you're genuine.**

Considering the fact that they had practically been enemies for the last six years, Hermione could understand why Draco Malfoy would be so sceptical of her intentions with him. Of course he wouldn't just naturally trust her despite the fact that they had been communicating through journals for almost the entire year. She had been expecting too much of him to just trust her with open arms. If Hermione was Draco, she'd be apprehensive of him too. For all he knew, she would just throw him straight to the wolves.

Only that wasn't what Hermione planned on doing. Now that she had figured out just what Draco was up to; she was even more determined to help him now that the fate of the wizarding world could depend on what she did next. If Draco was successful in assassinating Dumbledore, there was no telling what that would mean for everyone. But above all, Hermione refused to let him become a killer because although Draco Malfoy might be a lot of things, Hermione didn't think that he was a murderer.

And despite everything that he had put her through, Hermione refused to let him go through that if she could stop it.

* * *

**Well, this was certainly an eventful chapter. Draco was supposed to find out that Hermione was his pen pal in the previous chapter, but the timing and spacing of it didn't seem right so I thought it was most suited for this chapter. Not only does Draco now know who she is, Hermione now knows what he's been up to. But they're books are practically useless now after they've reached their limit, so what will this mean for them now? And I'm kinda feeling a little iffy about my writing of the Dramione interactions so far so let me know how you think I've done in that area.**


	11. Chapter 11

Now that her book was useless, Hermione had no way to contact Draco, not that he was even making an effort to reply to her constant attempts at communication. Hermione had hoped that maybe now that their books didn't work, Draco would actually make the effort to talk to her and find out what had happened, though she knew it would be a longshot. There was just so much that Hermione needed to talk to him about, so much that she needed to know.

It was hard keeping her suspicions to herself now that Hermione was assuming that Draco was attempting to assassinate Dumbledore. Harry was still convinced that he was up to no good, and Hermione had to keep on reminding herself just how catastrophic it would be if she let Harry in on her suspicions. It was just better she kept that hunch to herself, since Hermione didn't even want to think about what Harry would do if she told him what she thought Draco was up to.

A week soon passed after her initial confrontation with Draco in the Room of Requirement, and he had made himself more scarce than ever. It was frustrating beyond belief for Hermione, because all she wanted to do was talk to him, yet Draco wanted nothing to do with her. That was, until one day on her way to Charms, Hermione found herself suddenly yanked by her arm and rudely shoved into a closet.

"What the?" Hermione stammered as she stared into the darkness of the closet.

"If you hex me, I'll hex you back even harder," a familiar voice growled.

Looking up, Hermione stared into the steal grey eyes of Draco Malfoy. His face bore his usual glare which did nothing to unnerve Hermione as she stood face to face with him in a closet. For some inexplicable reason, Hermione found herself feeling embarrassingly uncomfortable in this situation, so she quickly backed away from Draco to create as much distance between them.

"Well, that was unexpected," Hermione muttered.

"That was the point," Draco snorted.

Hermione crossed her arms, "What is the point of _this_? First you say that you want nothing to do with me and then you ignore me at all costs and now you're cornering me in some abandoned closet that you yanked me into? Start talking!"

"Would you just be quiet for one second, Granger?" Draco snarled.

"Only so that you can start talking," Hermione said.

"You know," Draco stated.

"Know what?" Hermione clarified.

"What I am trying to achieve," Draco replied.

Hermione glared at him, "That you're trying to murder Dumbledore? Yeah, I figured it out on my own."

"Of course you did," Draco muttered.

"So what are you going to do, obliviate me now?" Hermione crossed her arms.

"I'm gonna tell you to keep your damn mouth shut," Draco growled.

"And why should I? Surely I should just go to Dumbledore or Harry and tell them what you're doing. You're giving the Death Eaters a route into the school through the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Listen, Granger. I've already got enough on my plate right now so the last thing that I need is to worry about you and your big mouth which is what I've been doing since you caught me in the Room of Requirement. If you knew what was good for you, you'd stay out of my way," Draco said.

"Or else what?" Hermione challenged.

Draco chuckled darkly, "Granger, I have Death Eater connections. With a simple word from me, I can make them come after you and your pesky little friends. You don't even wanna know what those Death Eaters are capable of."

Hermione scoffed, "Please, Malfoy, that's an empty threat and you _know _it, especially when I already have Death Eaters after me and my friends."

"But if I have my way, I could have the most dangerous Death Eaters sent after you. Surely you remember my Aunt Bella from the Department of Mysteries last year? She's quite ruthless, and she prides herself on being one of the Dark Lords best Death Eaters. She's got a particular hate for muggleborns, especially muggleborns who are friends with Potter. There's also Fenrir Greyback. You know, it's his mission to make as many werewolves as possible? I'm sure he'd fancy a bite with you," Draco threatened.

"I wouldn't think that you'd think so highly of Greyback after you're so scared of him, not to mention Hippogriffs as well," Hermione smirked.

"Funny, Granger. Really funny," Draco drawled. "Just know that if you keep on interfering with my task, I will make sure that the worst happens to you. Come the end of the school year, Dumbledore will be dead and there's nothing you can do about it."

"You're no killer, Malfoy," Hermione murmured.

"You don't know me at all, Granger. I've done things that would shock you," Draco said.

"It doesn't have to be like this," Hermione insisted.

"Unfortunately, it does," Draco scowled as he pointed his wand at Hermione's throat. "Now, stay out of my damn business, Granger. You're better off not getting Potter involved either cause he'll just make things worse."

With one last glare at her, Draco shoved her against the wall of the closet as he made his exit. That left Hermione standing there feeling shaken yet again by another encounter with him. There was just something about the way that Draco got up into her face that gave Hermione shivers. As much as she didn't want to think that he would actually hurt her, Hermione had to remind herself that he'd already gotten two people caught in the crossfire of his futile attempts to assassinate Dumbledore.

Now it looked like Hermione was going to get herself caught in the crossfire no matter what, but she was willing to do what she had to in order to make sure that nobody else got hurt, including Draco Malfoy.

~*•°•*~

In the days that followed, Hermione found it hard to meet Draco's eye whenever she saw him around, not that he even showed up anymore. Anytime that Hermione saw him, it was always briefly before he'd disappear into the halls of the castle. Hermione figured that he'd be spending most of his time in the Room of Requirement to repair the vanishing cabinet, and after their latest confrontation, Hermione wasn't sure how she was supposed to approach the situation again.

Before any of this came to light, Hermione spent most of her years ignoring Draco Malfoy. Now, she couldn't even bring herself to look away from him. It was hard not to notice Draco when she did, especially when he looked so stressed and worn out. Hermione was surprised that nobody even seemed to notice, let alone care that Draco was practically wasting away. So it was in the middle of a Potions lesson when Hermione actually found herself feeling sorry for him, and it was also in the middle of Potions when Hermione got an idea as to how she could make another approach to the situation. Hermione had remembered how Slughorn had brewed a batch of Veritaserum at the beginning of the year, and after raiding Slughorn's supply closet, Hermione had found just enough of a batch that she planned to use on Draco if given the opportunity.

Everything came to a head on the day that Katie Bell returned from St Mungo's. Once Hermione figured out that Draco had been responsible for Katie's situation, she had been worrying about what would happen once Katie returned from the hospital. Hermione knew that Harry would immediately go to question her about what happened, which is exactly what he did once Katie made her first appearance in the Great Hall. But Katie wasn't the only one who appeared in the Great Hall, since Hermione saw Draco there as well. At first he didn't notice Katie, but when he did see her Hermione could've sworn that she saw a glimmer of guilt on his face. Harry then spotted Draco as well, but Hermione stopped him before he could make a move, knowing that any confrontation between them would end in someone getting hurt.

"Stop, Harry," Hermione said.

"But he did it, Hermione. I know he did it. He cursed Katie and almost got her killed. He can't just get away with it!" Harry insisted.

"Harry, do you really think that it's wise to go chasing after Malfoy? You might be looking for a fight, but it could only end badly for both of you," Hermione argued.

"She's right, mate," Ron agreed.

Harry sighed with frustration, "But we can't just let him get away with it!"

"Harry, you need to think rationally about this. You can't just go around accusing Malfoy of everything, without any real proof that can be taken seriously," Hermione said.

"Fine, I won't get into a fight with him. I'll just talk to him about it," Harry grumbled, causing Ron to snort loudly beside him.

"As if any conversation between you and Malfoy could end without the two of you hexing each other," Ron remarked.

"Let me handle it, Harry. I'll try talking to him," Hermione suggested.

"But he'll hurt you," Harry argued.

"I think I can handle Malfoy better than you can, Harry," Hermione pointed out.

"Fine," Harry conceded. "Just be careful, Hermione."

"I will be," Hermione promised.

And she certainly had no intentions of getting involved in any violence with Draco, but just in case, she grabbed her wand and headed off in the same direction as him. As well as her wand, Hermione made sure that she had a vial of Veritaserum on her if she was given the chance to use it on him. It was hard not to notice how fast Draco moved this days, and Hermione figured that he'd gotten that speed as a way to keep people from following him. But Hermione was persistent, and despite having no idea where Draco could've been going, she was still surprised to see him dash into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

Then Hermione remembered what Harry told her about Draco confiding with Myrtle, so that part of it made sense. As Hermione carefully approached the old bathroom, she could hear what sounded like sobs echoing through the walls. Despite trying her best to approach this with no personal feelings, Hermione couldn't help but feel sorry for Draco once again. She never would've that that she'd find herself feeling sorry for the boy who had made her school life miserable for the past five years, but things have certainly changed.

Draco seemed to notice that somebody was nearby, as he quickly turned around and pulled out his wand as he spoke in a threatening manner, "Who is there?"

"It's just me," Hermione said as she revealed herself.

Draco groaned, "You just don't know when to give up, don't you, Granger? Well, if you came here to mock me just go ahead and get it done and over with."

"I'm not here to mock you, I'm here to help you," Hermione replied.

"I don't want your help," Draco hissed.

"So you've mentioned," Hermione mumbled.

"And yet it hasn't sunk in yet," Draco growled.

Hermione sighed, "Look, I'm only here because Harry was on his way to do something undoubtedly stupid so would you rather deal with me or him?"

"I'd rather deal with neither of you pathetic Gryffindors," Draco spat.

"Well, I'd rather neither of you idiots get yourselves hurt which is what would've happened if Harry had come barging in here," Hermione said.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Potter will come after me again."

"Because he thinks that you cursed Katie," Hermione crossed her arms.

"Of course he does," Draco muttered.

"But you did, didn't you?" Hermione murmured. "Just like you sent that poisoned mead to Slughorn so that he'd give it to Dumbledore as a way of achieving your mission."

"You've just got everything figured out, haven't you?" Draco drawled.

"Of course I do. I'm Hermione Granger, remember?" Hermione remarked.

Draco scoffed, "Yeah, cause being an obnoxious know-it-all is part of your identity."

"Just like being an ass is part of your identity," Hermione commented.

"Whatever, Granger. Can you just fuck off back to your little friends?" Draco snarled as he turned back around to face the sink.

Knowing that this would be her best chance to catch Draco by surprise, Hermione quickly pulled out her wand and cast the Incarcerous spell on Draco. In an instant, he was bound in ropes as he fell to the ground from the impact of the spell. Hermione then pulled out the vial of Veritaserum and carefully approached Draco as he struggled to free himself.

"Just what do you think you're playing at, Granger?" Draco seethed.

"I'm doing this for your own good," Hermione muttered as she grabbed Draco by the shoulders and forced his mouth open. She then shoved the truth serum down his mouth and waited for the effects to kick in.

"You fucking bitch," Draco snarled.

"Are you Draco Malfoy?" Hermione asked.

"Of course I am," Draco snorted.

"Have you been assigned to assassinate Albus Dumbledore by Lord Voldemort?" Hermione questioned.

Draco rolled his eyes, "I thought that we already established that?"

"How did you curse Katie Bell if you were nowhere near her at the time that the event took place?" Hermione interrogated him.

"I'd been using the Imperious curse on Madam Rosmerta for months to the point where I was able to use it so that she'd use it on Bell too," Draco confessed. "Fucking hell."

"Are you planning on letting Death Eaters into the school by repairing the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement?" Hermione demanded.

"Yes," Draco spat out.

"How do you feel about me being the person that you were unknowingly conversing with through the journals?" Hermione asked.

Draco let out a frustrated grunt, "I was pissed at first, but I'd kind of suspected that it was you anyways. I didn't even have any real clues to go on, it was just a gut feeling that I'd hoped I'd be wrong about because you're the last person who I'd want to figure out what I'm up to, next to Potter, of course."

"Why won't you let me help you?" Hermione wondered.

"Because I've already let people like Bell and Weasley almost get killed. I might not care for either of them, but I never intended for them to get in the way. My target was always Dumbledore," Draco answered.

"Do you actually want to kill Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.

"I might hate the man, but I don't want to kill him. Just like I might hate you, Granger, but I wouldn't want you to die at my hands or because of my actions. I thought that killing would be easy, but I can't bring myself to do it because I'm a fucking wimp," Draco admitted.

"Are you an official Death Eater?" Hermione inquired.

"Yes, but not willingly," Draco replied.

"Why are you doing this if you do not want to do it?" Hermione questioned.

"Because that bald snake man has me on a fucking leash. I was forced to take the Mark as punishment for my father's failure at the Department of Mysteries. They're threatening to torture my mother unless I do everything that they want me to," Draco revealed.

As much as Hermione had suspected that these would be the answers to the questions that she needed to ask, it didn't make hearing them any better. Though there was still one question that Hermione needed the answer to more than anything.

"Do you hate me?" she asked.

"Not like I used to," Draco admitted. "Not as much as I hate myself for being a fucking failure, or Voldy Baldy for forcing me to do this."

"If you don't hate me, then why do you still treat me the same, even after discovering who I was?" Hermione wondered.

"Because it's easier to have you hate me than it is for you to actually care about me. I can't even understand why you would be able to care about me. I'm only saying this cause of the truth serum, but I've been a fucking arse to you for five years," Draco said.

"I care because unlike you, Draco Malfoy, I am a good person. And as crazy as it might sound, the fact that you can't bring yourself to be a cold-blooded killer makes me think that there is hope for you to be a good person," Hermione proclaimed.

"Yeah, well, keep dreaming, Granger," Draco muttered.

Deciding that she had gotten what she needed to know from this, Hermione untied Draco from the ropes that she had conjured to trap him in. To her surprise, Draco didn't just immediately get up and leave the bathroom like she would've expected him to. Instead, Draco just turned away from her and leaned against the sink. An uncomfortable silence fell over them, and Hermione realised that this was probably the most civil that they had ever been in each other's company.

"I'm sorry for using Veritaserum on you," Hermione apologised.

"We do what we have to do," Draco stated.

"I just needed to get some answers from you to know what I was truly getting myself into. And it's okay… Draco. You really should know that I am the only person who could actually get you some help, because I don't need to ask you to know that you really don't want to face this on your own," Hermione said.

"I really don't see how you could help me, Granger. You're fighting a lost cause," Draco argued.

"I refuse to accept that," Hermione insisted.

"You're better off walking away now while you still can. This is pretty dark stuff that you don't want to be involved with. Even _I _don't want to be involved with this mess. You're too good for this, Granger," Draco said.

"I'm not as sweet and innocent as you might think I am. Like everyone else, I too have my ugly side," Hermione said.

Draco scoffed, "Yours couldn't compare to mine."

"Oh really? Well, then. You should know that last year when we formed Dumbledore's Army, _I _was the one who jinxed the parchment that everyone signed so that something horrible would happen if they thought to betray us. Then I just stood by and let a herd of centaurs take Umbridge away to do Merlin knows what to her. And how could I forget fourth year when I trapped Rita Skeeter in a damn cage while she was in her Animagus form," Hermione admitted.

"You actually trapped Skeeter in her bug form?" Draco squawked. "That's ruthless, even for you."

"See? I told you that everyone has their dark side. Mine only tends to come out when I choose to be vindictive, like when I conjured a swarm of birds to swoop on Ron," Hermione said.

"Okay, so you might've done some bad things. But you've never tried to kill people or almost actually killed people," Draco argued.

"You didn't mean to almost kill Katie and Ron," Hermione pointed out.

"Oh, like manslaughter is so much better?" Draco remarked.

"I just want to help you, Draco," Hermione sighed.

"Well, I don't want your help, Granger. Thanks for the talk," Draco muttered as he got up to leave. "Next time, you might as well let Potter come after me."

Once again, it was Draco who left Hermione to her own devices after she had tried getting through to him. At least this time, Hermione had made more progress with Draco than she had before. But he still didn't want her help, and unless it wasn't the Veritaserum talking, she was pretty sure that he meant it. Despite the fact that Draco wanted her to give up on him, Hermione wasn't going to do that. She was going to help him no matter what, even if it meant bringing in some extra help.

* * *

**Here we are with some more Dramione development and few twists on things. So, Hermione didn't let Harry go attack Draco in Myrtle's bathroom. But will Harry just stand by and do nothing the next time? Who knows? I do, of course ;). And just who does Hermione plan on going to for help in this delicate situation? The next chapter shall answer those questions and more.**


	12. Chapter 12

**As always, the support that you guys have shown for this story means a lot and it's always nice reading what you guys have to say. Now it's time for things to take a turn in the story and in what direction, you'll just have to read to find out ;).**

* * *

Despite having no real allegiance to Draco, Hermione still felt like she was betraying him by doing what she was about to do. As much as Hermione wished that she could help him, there was only so much that she could do when Draco was refusing to have anything to do with her. So with no other option, Hermione knew what she had to do. She had to speak with Professor Dumbledore.

So while Harry and Ron were off doing who knows what, Hermione made her way to the Headmasters office with every intention of telling him about Draco's mission. Though Hermione did have to wonder if Dumbledore was already aware of what Draco was trying to achieve. If Hermione could figure it out on her own, then surely a brilliant wizard like Dumbledore would be able to put the pieces together as well. Hermione just wanted to make sure that Draco would be protected, because he didn't deserve to face the inevitable consequences of what Voldemort was forcing him to do.

Easily enough, Hermione was able to request some time with Professor Dumbledore, which she had every intention of using to figure out just what was going on around here. Upon arriving at Dumbledore's office, Hermione stood there impatiently as she waited for the Headmaster to greet her. Hermione glanced around, knowing that Harry had spent plenty of time in this office over the past year as he worked with Dumbledore. Now it looked like she was about to be doing the same.

"Ah, Miss Granger. I've been expecting you," came Dumbledore's voice as he seemingly came out of nowhere. "You said that you needed to speak with me in person, and that it was important."

"Yes, sir. It is. Massively important," Hermione nodded.

"Well, then. What is it that you need?" Dumbledore wondered.

"There is something that has come to my attention recently and I believe that you should be aware of it if you are not already," Hermione replied.

"Go on," Dumbledore urged.

Hermione took a deep breath as she voiced her revelation, "Draco Malfoy is trying to assassinate you."

Although Hermione hadn't expected much of a reaction from Dumbledore considering he was always reserved, she had expected to get at least _something _from him. Instead he just stood there, unresponsive.

"And just how is it that you have come to this conclusion, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore questioned.

"I connected the dots. The cursed necklace that almost killed Katie Bell was supposed to be delivered to you, same with the poisoned mead that almost killed Ron. Throughout the entire year, Malfoy has looked as though something is deeply troubling him. Being tasked to assassinate you would be enough to trouble anyone," Hermione explained.

"You seem so sure of your assessment," Dumbledore stated.

"Yes, well… Malfoy did also confirm my suspicions after I confronted him," Hermione murmured.

"And you are suddenly on speaking terms with Mr. Malfoy that he would divulge this information to you?" Dumbledore narrowed his eyes. "I sense that there is more to this than what you are telling me."

Hermione sighed, knowing that she would have to tell Dumbledore about the books, "Well, Malfoy and I have kind of been in communication this year. We just didn't know that we were corresponding with each other until recently."

"How could you have not known that you were communicating with each other?" Dumbledore asked.

"It's kind of a tricky situation. You see, I bought this book from Scribbulus Writing Implements in the Summer before the shop was ransacked by Death Eaters. It allowed me to communicate with Malfoy through the book, though we didn't really know who we were talking to. He seemed troubled whenever we wrote to each other, and I just knew that I had to try and help them, so that's what I've been trying to do. I confronted Malfoy about it, and he confessed but he doesn't want my help. He doesn't want anything to do with me at all, really. But I just know that he doesn't want to do what Voldemort is forcing him to do. Draco Malfoy may be plenty of unflattering things, but he is no murderer," Hermione confessed.

Dumbledore was silent again before he responded, "While I appreciate your concern for Mr Malfoy, I must advise you to leave this delicate situation alone, Miss Granger. It would do you no good to get involved anymore than you already have. I can assure you that I have the situation with Mr Malfoy under control."

At first, Hermione blinked back in surprise at Dumbledore. He didn't even seem the least bit bothered by what she had just declared. That could only mean… that he knew. Dumbledore knew what Draco was trying to do. And he was doing nothing to prevent it or stop people from getting caught in the way. Hermione now found herself angry at Dumbledore for allowing things to get so out of hand like they have.

"You know," Hermione pointed an accusing finger at him. "All this time, you've known about Draco's mission, and have done nothing to stop it. You've just sat by and let Draco become a mess as he tries to figure out a way to kill you. You just let Katie and Ron be collateral damage when you knew what was going on the entire time!"

"While it is most regrettable that Miss Bell and Mr Weasley got caught in the way of Mr Malfoy's schemes, that is not something that I could have prevented from happening, Mss Granger," Dumbledore argued.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Like hell it isn't. You're the Headmaster. You're supposed to know everything that's going on here. How could you not know that Draco had been using the Imperious curse on Madam Rosmerta to the point where she could use it on Katie Bell? How could you not try to stop any of it while Draco's mission put other people in danger?"

"Miss Granger, you must realise that there are greater forces at work in this delicate situation. While I admit my lapse of judgement in underestimating Mr Malfoy's desperation, there is very little that I can do to help him. Any involvement from me would only risk putting Mr Malfoy in greater danger. Surely you must realise that?" Dumbledore insisted.

With a frustrated sigh, Hermione had to admit that Dumbledore had a point. Although she had tried pressuring Draco into going to Dumbledore for help, she had come to realise just how difficult that would be for him. It would be especially dangerous if Voldemort was to discover that Draco was conspiring with Dumbledore. But still, Dumbledore should have been able to do more to protect innocent people like Katie and Ron from being caught in the crossfire.

"Regardless of that fact, you have failed your duties as Headmaster by not being able to protect Katie and Ron. They did not deserve to suffer because you could not foresee these events from happening. And you must know that Draco is barely coping with this task. I fear for what he might do the more he tries. He is clearly desperate to succeed and is barely hanging on by a thread," Hermione proclaimed.

"Forgive me if I am misinterpreting your intentions, Miss Granger, but it sounds as if you have grown to care for Mr Malfoy and his well-being on a personal level," Dumbledore commented.

"I am not concerned for Malfoy's well-being," Hermione replied, even though she even doubted the words as they came out. "I am merely concerned for what the consequences of his desperate action will bes. Surely you must be concerned, Headmaster, that a student is plotting your death?"

"What is meant to happen will happen, Miss Granger. I have already resigned myself to face that fate and there is nothing you can do to prevent it," Dumbledore said.

"So you're just going to let him kill you?" Hermione exclaimed. "Like I said, Malfoy might be many things, but he's no murderer. He does not deserve to have your blood on his hands."

"Do you not recall me saying that you do not realise that there are other forces at work in this situation, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked.

"What's that supposed to mean then?" Hermione wondered.

"It means that you are to let Mr Malfoy continue with his mission. This is something that you cannot change, Miss Granger. Death comes to all of us eventually, and I am merely welcoming it. And I would also like to request that you keep this conversation between ourselves. You must not breathe another word of it to Mr Potter or anyone else concerned. Am I understood?" Dumbledore ordered.

"Yes, sir," Hermione replied through gritted teeth.

"Very well. Unless you have anything else you would like to say, you may leave now," Dumbledore said.

Without another word, Hermione turned on her heals and left the Headmasters office. Despite not knowing what exactly she'd get out of this visit, Hermione was left feeling bitterly disappointed as Dumbledore made it quite clear that he wasn't going to do anything to help Draco. In fact, he was just going to _let _Draco kill him. Both Dumbledore and Draco seemed to have resigned themselves to their fates, but Hermione still refused to let Draco be the one to snuff out Dumbledore's life.

If anything, her visit to Dumbledore had left Hermione with some renewed vigour to help Draco. She would not let him become a murder. Not on her watch.

~*•°•*~

In the days that followed, Hermione found herself becoming as withdrawn as Draco. She was making a mess out of herself as she worried about what he was going to do next, since he was still going out of his way to avoid her at all costs. It just made Hermione more enraged that Draco was clearly losing himself and that nobody seemed to care. Regardless of the fact that it was Draco Malfoy, it was still a human being who didn't deserve to go through this much strife.

It was clear that Hermione wasn't the only one who was losing themselves to Draco Malfoy as Harry remained quite clearly obsessed with him. Every move that Draco made, Harry was watching him with close eyes. Then again, so was Hermione. She was keeping an eye on him in case he did something else that would cause harm to another innocent person. Hermione figured that Draco knew she was watching him, because he didn't seem to be doing anything of the sorts.

One day, after Hermione had headed back to Gryffindor Tower for some quiet study time after here Ancient Runes class, Harry came in. He looked angry by something, but also distressed. That was never a good combination for Harry, so Hermione naturally wanted to know what was bothering him.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione wondered carefully.

"Bloody Malfoy," Harry muttered. "The git was gonna use the Curcio Curse on me and I acted in defence. Now I've got detention."

"What did you do, Harry?" Hermione asked in a dangerously low voice.

"I used some curse in the Prince's book – Sectumsempra," Harry replied.

Hermione gasped, recognising the spell from it's Latin origin. Sectum meant to cut, while semper meant forever. That could only mean that the spell was intended to… cut forever.

"Harry, you _didn't_!" Hermione exclaimed in shock.

"I didn't know that it's what it would do! I thought it would be something funny, not deadly," Harry hissed.

"For goodness sake Harry, all you had to do was look it up in a Latin dictionary. Sectum means _to cut _while semper means _forever_. Merlin, all you had to do was just ask me. Or, I don't know, _not use the spell at all_!" Hermione berated him.

"Okay, it was stupid," Harry muttered.

"What happened to Malfoy? Please tell me you didn't kill him," Hermione whispered.

"I didn't kill him. If I did, Snape probably would've killed me too. Snape caught us and used some spell to heal him. He's fine," Harry answered. "Why do you even care, Hermione?"

"Harry, what I care about is the fact that you so naively used a spell that you didn't know what it's purpose was and that you could've _killed someone_. Malfoy deserves a lot of things like a good punch or a slap, but he doesn't deserve to die, especially not from your hands," Hermione said.

"You're defending him? Hermione, he cursed Katie. And I just know that he sent that poisoned mead to Slughorn that almost killed Ron. I'd have every right to kill him," Harry insisted.

"I can't believe you, Harry," Hermione muttered. "How could you be so reckless and use a spell that you don't even know what it does?"

"Spare me the lecture, Hermione. I already got one from Snape and a boat load of detentions that are gonna make me miss Quidditch," Harry snapped.

"You almost killed Malfoy and you're _complaining _about detention?" Hermione hissed. "And you say that _I _need to sort out my priorities."

In that moment, Hermione couldn't bare to be around Harry, so she stormed out of the Common Room in a huff. The sheer stupidity of Harry sometimes baffled her, and now was just one of those times. She couldn't believe that he had been so _stupid! _Who in the right mind would use a spell that they don't know the purpose of? Hermione certainly wouldn't, that's for sure.

At first, all Hermione felt was anger and frustration, with both of those feelings being directed towards Harry because of his foolishness. But then those feelings changed to pain, like the pain you get from grief or remorse. Only that feeling was directed towards _Malfoy_. Hermione suddenly found Harry and Dumbledore's words echoing in the back of her mind.

_Why do you even care, Hermione?_

_It sounds as if you have grown to care for Mr Malfoy and his well-being on a personal level._

Despite denying those statements at the time, Hermione was now seeing the truth in them. She _did _care for Draco. It was impossible to deny it now after the thought of Harry almost murdering him made her feel sick. Although Hermione tried to justify it as feeling sick about Harry's actions, she knew the feeling came from her genuine concern for Malfoy. If Harry had actually killed Draco with that spell… Hermione didn't even know how she would react. She didn't even want to _think _about that possibility.

At the same time, Hermione could hear Harry and Ron yelling at her for being foolish by caring for Malfoy. She knew that it was stupid, to care for the boy that had shown no care for her at all. But the comfort in it was that in his own unique way, Hermione felt like he cared for her, too. She found herself remembering her forcing Veritaserum on him in which he confessed to not wanting innocent people getting hurt in his desperate schemes. That had to mean something, right?

All of these conflicting feelings that had just came crashing down on Hermione sent her into overdrive. She didn't know what to do or what to think. None of it made sense to her. Just the thought of caring for someone like Draco, with the family he comes from and the views he supports made her feel sick. Why did this have to happen now? Why couldn't Hermione have just stayed having feelings for Ron? At least that was easier to deal with. At least then Hermione didn't have to feel guilty about liking him.

The thing about feelings was that you couldn't control them, Hermione knew that much. She couldn't control the despair that she felt at the thought of Draco dying. She couldn't control the way her heart broke every time she saw how dreadful he looked. She couldn't control how the feelings she used to have for Ron had now turned to Draco. It was like a bus had just slammed into her to make her realise this. All this time, Hermione had tried justifying her need to help Draco as a way to satisfy her conscience, or her pull towards Anonymous. She had tried separating Anonymous from Draco, yet somehow, somewhere along the way, her feelings towards them both had coincided.

It was unbelievable to think that Hermione Granger could come to care so deeply towards Draco Malfoy. Yet she did. She wanted nothing more than to ease his pain and save him from the darkness that was eating him alive. She wanted to be someone that he could turn to for help and support. She wanted nothing more than for him to care about her the way that she cared about him. These feelings that Hermione felt towards Draco hurt so much more than the way her feelings for Ron did. Then again, Hermione shouldn't have expected there to be anything easy about having feelings for Draco Malfoy.

Now Hermione found herself once again in Myrtle's bathroom. Only this time it wasn't Draco who was crying in there. It was her. Oh, to be young and feel love's keen sting indeed…

* * *

**So, even after Hermione went after Draco instead last chapter the Sectumsempra incident still happened. But it's caused Hermione to finally acknowledge the suppressed feelings that she's been trying to deny, so consider it good for plot development. But with nothing coming out of her attempt to help Draco with Dumbledore, just what will Hermione do now? Oh, how it brings me great joy to know things that the readers do not.**


	13. Chapter 13

In the aftermath of Harry and Draco's duel, Harry had quickly been branded a villain by Pansy Parkinson. Normally, Hermione would loathe to agree with Parkinson, but she had to agree that Harry certainly came off looking worse in details than Draco did. Of course, Draco wasn't completely innocent himself since he had tried to use the Crucio Curse on Harry. But in the end, Harry had been the one to use a spell that he had never heard of, which almost cost Draco his life.

It was only after Ginny had expressed her disappointment in Harry that Harry seemed to show some remorse for his actions, and he subsequently hid the book in the Room of Requirement upon her urging. Naturally, Hermione was still pretty ticked off with Harry's recklessness and lack of guilt, but she was keeping that to herself. What was bothering Hermione more was her newly discovered feelings for Draco Malfoy.

Acknowledging those feelings had barely done anything to put Hermione's mind at ease. It was almost unfathomable to her that she could feel anything towards someone like Draco. But there was no denying that the thought of Draco dying made Hermione feel just as distraught as she would be if it was Harry and Ron, except more. These newfound feelings were just eating her alive, so Hermione knew what she had to do.

She had to see Draco.

After borrowing the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak from Harry, Hermione headed towards the Hospital Wing where she knew Draco would be. Once Hermione saw that Madam Pomfrey had retired for the night, Hermione entered the Hospital Wing and took off the cloak. Slowly, she approached Draco's bed where he laid asleep. Looking at him now, you wouldn't even think that he needed to be there. But Hermione knew that on his chest would be permanent scars as a result of Harry's use of Sectumsempra. That thought alone made her anger at Harry rise again.

For a few moments, Hermione just stood there, unsure of what to do. But then, acting on instinct, Hermione reached out to grab his hand. The moment she touched his hand, Hermione found her wrist being grabbed by Draco. His eyes opened, and he looked around before his gaze landed on her. His gaze stiffened.

"Granger," Draco spat out.

"Hello," Hermione whispered.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione remarked. "I'm here to see you."

"Why?" Draco snapped.

"Because I…" Hermione trailed off, uncertain of what to say. "Care about you."

"You what?" Draco asked.

Hermione sighed, "I care about you."

Draco narrowed his eyebrows, "Why in Merlins name would you do that?"

"You mean care about you?" Hermione clarified, somewhat surprised by his reaction. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure why. I just do."

"Well, you shouldn't. I'm not worth your care, Granger. So you can just get out and let me rest in peace," Draco snapped.

"What makes you think that you're not worth my care?" Hermione wondered.

"Because I'm just not. I'm not worth your time, Granger. Believe me," Draco snarled.

"I just wanted to… apologise on behalf of Harry. I was disgusted when he told me what happened. Don't get me wrong, what you almost did was just as bad too. But for him to so foolishly use a spell that he didn't know the purpose of was just wrong," Hermione said.

Draco scoffed, "Don't apologise for Potter. I don't need or want an apology from him. Besides, I would've preferred for him to just finish me off."

"You don't mean that," Hermione gasped.

"Why shouldn't I? I'm on a death sentence already. Potter would've just been speeding up the process," Draco answered.

"You mean, because of your task?" Hermione asked.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Yes, Granger. If I fail to complete my mission the Dark Lord will have my head on a silver platter. Either I kill Dumbledore, or I die. And since it's looking more and more like I'm going to fail there, I really would've just preferred to have Potter finish me off then to save me the trouble."

"No. Don't say that. As much as Harry didn't care about what he did, he wouldn't deserve to have your death on his hands," Hermione argued.

"Then who would?" Draco questioned.

"Nobody, because you don't deserve to die either," Hermione answered.

"Yeah, but I want to," Draco muttered.

"No, you don't. If you truly wanted to die, then you wouldn't be trying so hard to succeed in your mission. If you truly wanted to die, you'd just do it yourself," Hermione argued.

Draco glared at her, "Let me make this clear, Granger. I'm only so desperate to succeed because my mothers life hangs in the balance. My mother doesn't deserve to suffer because her son is too much of a coward."

"Not wanting to kill someone doesn't make you a coward. Murder is a cowardly action," Hermione insisted.

"Of course you would think that," Draco snarled.

"How can you let yourself go through this? You're wasting away. Aren't any of your friends concerned?" Hermione wondered.

"They know better than to get involved in my personal business," Draco stated.

"Because you put up too many barriers for them to get through," Hermione remarked. "Why don't you just take Snape up on his offer to help you?"

"I'd ask how do you know that, but I'm assuming that you got it from Potter since he's been stalking me all year," Draco remarked.

"Yes, Harry has been watching you. And at first, I thought it was pointless because I did not believe that you were a Death Eater. Only now that I know what you're going through, I too am watching you, but not for the same reasons as Harry," Hermione said.

"You're certainly not as obvious as Potter," Draco snorted.

"Please, Draco. I only want to help you. I'm probably the only person that can," Hermione insisted.

"So you keep saying. But I don't want your help," Draco hissed. "Do you want to know something, Granger? The Dark Lord _chose me _for this mission. Out of everyone, he chose me to do it! He trusts me. This is my moment and I won't be letting anyone take it away from me."

"You don't really think that," Hermione argued.

"Why else do you think I don't want Snape or anyone else's help? Because this is _my _time," Draco proclaimed.

"You say that Voldemort chose you for this mission because he trusts you, yet under the influence of Veritaserum, you said that he chose you as punishment for your fathers failure. This isn't your moment to shine. It really is a death sentence," Hermione said.

"Then just let me have it, Granger," Draco snarled.

"You don't really want that to happen, do you, Draco? Because if you're gone, then your mother will be left vulnerable," Hermione reasoned.

Draco scoffed, "Even if I fail, Dumbledore will still die. With him out of the way, the Dark Lord will have more power than ever. He'll be able to free my father from Azkaban and he'll be there to look after mother. She won't need me."

"What if Voldemort just keeps your father locked up because of his failure? Your father doesn't exactly have the sway that he used to anymore," Hermione pointed out.

"If she won't have father, then she'll at least have Bellatrix," Draco stated.

"Please, Draco. What is it going to take for me to get you to admit that you truly don't want to do this? What am I going to have to do to get you to accept my help?" Hermione pleaded.

"Why do you even _want _to help me, Granger? And I want the truth. You should have no desire whatsoever to help someone like me, yet you're so insistent on being the only person who can. Why am I so important to you?" Draco demanded.

Hermione gulped, "Because like I said… I care about you."

"And why would you care for me?" Draco asked.

"I've been told that I have a bleeding heart," Hermione replied, not wanting to confess her true feelings for him like this.

"Bullshit," Draco snapped. "You never cared for me before. You slapped me before and laughed with everyone else and mocked me when I was turned into a ferret. You've never cared before, so why care now?"

"Because I… like you," Hermione stammered.

"You what?" Draco asked.

"For whatever inexplicable reason, I _like you,_" Hermione confessed. "There, I said it! You happy?"

Complete and utter silence fell over them. Hermione soon found herself unable to look Draco in the face as she looked anywhere else. She could now feel her chest beating a million miles a minute, and those familiar nerves that she used to get whenever she was around Ron came flooding back. Damnit, the feelings were real.

"I don't even know why I feel that way towards you because Merlin knows that you don't deserve to have me care for you because of how you've treated me over the past six years. You have done nothing but bully me and insult my blood status since the moment we met. If anything, the sight of you like this should give me some sick satisfaction. But instead, my heart aches for you and the thought of you dying gives me the same horrified feeling that I would have if it were Harry and Ron, only worse. I just want to be able to help you, and to reassure you that everything will be alright but you want even let me do that!" Hermione ranted, unable to contain herself.

Venting about her feelings like that actually felt good for Hermione, since she had just been keeping them buried inside of her in the hopes that they'd eventually go away. But there was no stopping them, and once they came out, Hermione knew that her feelings for Draco were real. It almost scared Hermione, to think that she could care so deeply for someone like him. Eventually, Hermione was able to bring herself to look at Draco directly in the face, only for him to stare at her looking completely gobsmacked.

"Say something!" Hermione demanded.

"I- you… What?" Draco stammered.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I, Hermione Granger, am inexplicably taken by Draco Malfoy."

"Why?" Draco asked.

"I wish I knew," Hermione muttered. "I just seem to have the most excellent taste in boys. First Ron, and now you?"

Draco grimaced, "Ugh, you did not just compare me to Weasley."

"You can't deny that you're both horrible options for me to be attracted to," Hermione pointed out.

"Even still, I'm better than Weasley. I'd be more of an upgrade for you, Granger," Draco remarked.

Hermione smirked, "Now there's that borderline arrogance that I somewhat miss compared to that pitiful 'woe is me' attitude that you've been holding onto."

"Hey, you'd hate your life too if you were me right now," Draco argued.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day. Draco Malfoy not saying that his life is better than someone's for once," Hermione chuckled.

"I've been humbled," Draco muttered.

"More like you've been given a reality check," Hermione corrected.

"I just don't get it, Granger. Out of everyone, including Weasley, you choose to want _me_? I get that I'm irresistible but why in Morgana's name would you want to be with me?" Draco wondered.

Hermione shrugged, "I truly don't know. Believe me, I've been trying to figure out why ever since I realised it. But perhaps it's because you are different now. You might be a pitiful mess, but you're not as horrid as you used to be. You have more of a moral compass, even if it is still extremely flawed. The Draco Malfoy from before wouldn't have deserved my compassion but now, I can't say that you don't deserve it. I don't think that I could have ever wanted to be with you before we had this… development between us."

"And by development, you mean the books?" Draco clarified.

"Yes. I will admit that when I first discovered that it was you, I had wanted nothing more to do with you. But then my conscience got in the way, and I knew that I would never forgive myself if I didn't stop something horrible that I could've prevented. So I did just want to help you for my own selfish reasons, but it was impossible for me to deny the pull that I felt towards Anonymous, that had really been a pull towards you. I tried so hard to separate you two, but I couldn't because whether I liked it or not, you were the same person. The same person that I had grown to care for," Hermione explained.

"So, that's it then. You only like me because of the books. I'm not the same as Anonymous, Granger. I'm Draco Malfoy, snobbish pureblood supremacist," Draco said.

"Except you are the same person, Draco. Believe me, I tried to convince myself otherwise, but I knew it was pointless. You are Anonymous, and Anonymous is you," Hermione insisted.

"Just because you had some freakish feelings for somebody that you'd never met, doesn't mean that you have to like them once you know them," Draco argued.

"Why are you trying to convince me that I shouldn't have feelings for you? What has you so convinced that I shouldn't feel how I feel towards you? Is it because you're you, or because I am me?" Hermione questioned.

"Both," Draco admitted. "You're Hermione Granger, and I am Draco Malfoy. You're the Gryffindor Princess, and I'm the Slytherin Prince. You're a muggleborn, I'm a pureblood supremacist. We could never work. I would ruin you. Do yourself a favour and just get out now while you still can."

"Can you honestly look me in the eyes and say that you think all muggleborns are scum?" Hermione asked.

"I just don't have any opinions on anything anymore. All I know is that I hate the Dark Lord for what he has done to my family and I do not want to fight for him," Draco confessed.

"Well, that's something. If you were truly a pureblood supremacist, you would completely be supporting Voldemort," Hermione reasoned.

"But not because I disagree with his opinions, but because of how he has affected me personally," Draco argued.

"It's better than you just blindly supporting him because you're supposed to. You can see how what he is doing is wrong, and it has made you realise what is important to you, like your family," Hermione said.

"You really are trying your best to make me sound like a good person. If Potter could hear you now, he'd be livid," Draco snorted.

"I don't care what Harry thinks. I only care how I think and how I feel. What I think is that you should give your own morality a little more credit, Draco. And I've already expressed how I feel towards you," Hermione stated.

"I can't even begin to understand how you could feel that way towards me," Draco muttered.

"That begs the question though… How do you feel towards me?" Hermione asked timidly, almost afraid of the answer.

"Honestly, Granger? I don't know. When I first found out that it was you, I was just livid at the fact that I had been hoodwinked by you. But then you… cared for me. And I didn't know how to feel about that. It's funny, because I think that everyone should just bow down and care for me but the fact that _you _of all people do, just sets something off inside of me. I don't know why it bothers me, but it does," Draco explained.

"Maybe it's because you don't think that you deserve my care?" Hermione suggested.

Draco sighed, "Probably. If this was over a year ago, I'd probably laugh at your face, call you a mudblood and say that I would be the best thing that could ever happen to you before telling you to find some other sorry sod to drop your nickers for. But now? I'd probably be the _worst _thing that could ever happen to you."

"Wow, your ego has certainly been taken down a notch," Hermione remarked, though it was still sad for her to hear Draco talk about himself like this.

Draco shrugged, "It's the truth, though. You getting involved with me would only be worse for you. If anybody found out, you'd be hunted, tortured or worse. Not to mention, what Potter and Weasley would think. I wouldn't want to wish that on you. Nobody else needs to get hurt because of my stupidity."

Hermione's gaze softened, "So… does that mean that you do care for me in some degree? You'd have to, if you would be concerned for my safety and wellbeing."

"Damn, Granger. Do you really have to nit-pick everything that I say?" Draco drawled.

"But I do need to know how you truly feel towards me if we're gonna get anywhere," Hermione stated.

"I don't even know anymore, Granger," Draco sighed. "Part of me feels like I should hate you, but I don't even have the energy to do that anymore. It almost feels wrong to hate you after the whole journals nonsense. I just… don't want anything to do with anyone right now. I've even turned down Pansy's desperate attempts to get in my pants and I'm usually always down for anything with her!"

Hermione cringed, "I really didn't need to hear that last part."

"You should know it, though," Draco commented.

"I do, regrettably," Hermione shuddered, remembering all the stories that she'd heard about Pansy Parkinson's exploits, most of which were with Draco.

"What do you want from me now, Granger?" Draco asked.

"I just want you to trust me. I want you to let me help you. Please, let me," Hermione said.

"You wanna know something, Granger? If you had come to me early on, before I got too deeply into things, I might've been more receptive to your offer. But now there is no turning back. I can't risk defying the Dark Lord with my mother and my own life on the line. Even if I did trust you, I couldn't accept your help," Draco admitted.

"But, you do trust me?" Hermione clarified.

"For whatever reason, I do," Draco muttered.

Hermione smiled, "Well, at least that's _something_. I guess now we have to figure out where we go from here."

"Where we go from here is that you will leave me and try to stay out of my mess. Don't hold out any hope for me, Granger. Cause I really don't see myself making it out of this mess alive, even if I can somehow pull off Dumbledore's assassination," Draco said.

"No," Hermione argued. "I won't be giving up on you, Draco. Clearly you need someone to be there for you and to support you, and I'm willing to be that person. I'm perfectly content with that being all we are if it means helping you."

"If I say yes will you leave?" Draco drawled.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Fine."

"Then yes, you can do whatever you want. Just don't get involved in my mess anymore," Draco conceded.

"I can accept that," Hermione nodded.

"Now, you can leave," Draco ordered.

"This won't be the last that you see of me, Draco," Hermione said as she prepared to here. "But remember this, I am here for you."

Despite not getting a response from him with that, Hermione was still satisfied with how this conversation had gone. She had managed to get Draco to trust her, while also confessing her feelings to him. And although she had not gotten a complete admission from him about his feelings, Hermione felt like they had made more progress in that one conversation than they had throughout this entire situation.

An odd feeling of hope overwhelmed Hermione, knowing that she was getting somewhere. There was still hope. She could still save Draco, and Merlin she was going to try her best to do that.

* * *

**This was a rather long talk-about-our-feelings chapter but hey, it needed to happen for progress, and some progress is better than none. Hermione's now gotten Draco to open up to her, but of course he's still being a stubborn and reluctant git. But they're getting somewhere, and that's something. I don't know why, but I just feel really nervous about how I write the proper Dramione interactions, cause they almost feel out of character, but then I remember that they basically had months to establish trust through the journals, which has sort of transcended to their personal connection with each other. So naturally after that, and with Draco's selfish need for someone to understand him, they're able to talk to each other in a way that they wouldn't be able to if not for the journals. Yay for purpose.**


	14. Chapter 14

For whatever reason, Hermione had expected things to change between her and Draco after their confrontation in the Hospital Wing. It was a few days later when Draco was released, except he went back to his old ways of just ignoring Hermione and being rude to her in public. Though there was a part of Hermione believed he was just doing that to keep up appearances, since his words lacked the usual malice that they generally had when directed towards her. It gave Hermione hope that there was a change between them, and that things just wouldn't go back to the same old routine.

True to her word, Hermione continued to try and help him, with her efforts consisting of tracking him down to the Room of Requirement as he continued to mend the Vanishing Cabinet. Sometimes they wouldn't talk at all, and Hermione would just stand there and watched as he repaired it. Despite knowing that Draco was one of the more brilliant students, it was still amazing to see him persevere and get closer to repairing it. There were even a few instances when Hermione would offer words of advice, though she didn't know why since she was essentially helping Draco give a gateway for the Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts.

It was hard for Hermione to see Draco unravel, because the closer he got to completing his task, the more nervous he became. Although Draco tried his best to appear as though he wasn't bothered, Hermione could see him crumbling under the pressure. Sometimes he'd even let her comfort him when he showed brief moments of weakness, though his walls always went straight back up and he acted like nothing happened. Finally, the Vanishing Cabinet was repaired, and Hermione knew what would follow.

"It's done," Draco declared once he made the last finishing touch.

"You actually did it," Hermione murmured. "I have to hand it to you, Draco, this is pretty damn brilliant. Using your skills like this… I can barely believe it."

Draco snorted, "Yeah, using my skills to let a bunch of murderers into a school is so brilliant."

Hermione grimaced, "Oh, sorry. I guess I shouldn't have said that. I don't suppose it's not too late to just call off the mission and destroy it now?"

"I'm not destroying it after I put in all this work, Granger. It's the only way for me," Draco stated.

"It didn't have to be," Hermione argued.

"Yeah, will. Here I am. About to let a group of murderers into a school so I can kill my Headmaster. Great," Draco drawled.

Hermione sighed, "Draco… there's something you should know. Dumbledore knows."

"Knows what?" Draco narrowed his eyes.

"That you're trying to kill him," Hermione clarified.

"What? He can't know. If he knows… I'm screwed. How could he even know? Then again, I shouldn't be surprised since the old coot always seems to know everything that goes on around this bloody castle," Draco ranted.

"I'm not sure how he knows, but I guess your attempts haven't exactly been subtle. I did actually tell him about what you were trying to achieve when you first refused to accept my help, but he already knew. He doesn't even seem to care. It's almost like he's resigned himself to dying," Hermione explained.

"So… he _wants _me to kill him?" Draco stammered.

"I don't think he necessarily wants you to kill him. I told him what you were doing, and Dumbledore said that there were other matters at work in this situation. I have no idea what that means, since Dumbledore always tends to speak in riddles, but perhaps there is a way for you to get out of it. I don't think that Dumbledore is the type to just let a student murder him, or anyone for that matter," Hermione said.

"It's going to happen regardless of what I want. The Dark Lord knows that I'm almost done, and all I have to do is give the signal and that's it," Draco sighed.

"Just do whatever you can to not do it. If there is _any way _for you to get out of it, please do it. I don't want you to become a murderer. You don't deserve that," Hermione pleaded.

"I still don't understand why you care so much for me," Draco muttered.

"Because I do. I'm able to look past the person that you portray and see who you really can be on the inside. I know that you don't believe it, but I truly believe that there is good inside of you," Hermione proclaimed.

"That's probably the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me," Draco remarked.

"Really?" Hermione said. "Aren't you used to people like Pansy Parkinson just telling you how gorgeous you are and how great you are? Isn't that one of the perks of being the self-proclaimed Slytherin Prince?"

"You overestimate my ego, Granger," Draco drawled. "And yeah, I'm used to people talking about my looks but that's just it. Nobody really has anything else to say about me because let's face it, I don't exactly have a winning personality. I've never actually had someone tell me that I'm a good person."

"And it means a lot to you," Hermione smiled.

"I still can't understand why you would think that about me, but I do appreciate it. If you can see that about me, then I guess there's gotta be some kind of good inside of me," Draco said.

"There is, I know it. You've just proven it, too. Because if there wasn't, you wouldn't need convincing to not want to murder Dumbledore. You don't want to do that on your own," Hermione insisted.

"You're going to think differently of me when I do kill him," Draco argued.

"I won't, because I know you don't want to. You just have to hope that somehow, you'll be able to get out of this mess," Hermione said.

"I don't know if I can," Draco admitted.

"You will," Hermione protested.

"I just… Thank, you Granger. I can't believe that I'm saying this but having you in my corner has almost made this easier. I actually appreciate it now more than I thought I would," Draco confessed.

Hermione smiled, "I'm glad. You need a friend, and I know that it means a lot for you to trust me like this."

"We'll see if you still feel that way after I kill Dumbledore," Draco muttered.

Despite wanting to protest against it, Hermione knew that there really wasn't that much she could say to make Draco feel better. He was going to have to kill Dumbledore, and Hermione was just hoping that by the grace of Merlin, Draco was spared of having to become a murderer. It wasn't what he deserved. He deserved better.

But just knowing what was around the corner, Hermione was secretly terrified. She didn't know what this would mean for them, but she just hoped that there would be hope in the end.

~*•°•*~

Everything that happened after Draco fixed the Vanishing Cabinet was almost like a blur for Hermione. Within a few days, everything had changed. Dumbledore was dead, and Draco was gone. Words couldn't describe the relief that Hermione felt when Harry said that Draco had lowered his wand and that Snape had been the one to kill Dumbledore instead. Of course Hermione still felt bad about Dumbledore's death because she knew how it had affected Harry, but there was still a little part of her that resented him because he hadn't actively done anything to stop Draco's mission.

Knowing that her plan was to help Harry with his Horcrux hunt, Hermione wondered when she would be able to hear from Draco again. Not knowing what he was up to or what he was going through unnerved Hermione, and she hated to think about what he could be going through at the hands of Voldemort. But Hermione had other things to worry about as well, like having to leave her parents and erase their memories. It made Hermione miss having Draco to talk to with their dairies, since she could certainly use someone to talk to right now.

Hermione's hopes were answered when only a few days before she was set to leave to join Harry and obliviate her parents, there was a strange delivery to her house. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione had spotted an owl tapping on her bedroom window. It wasn't any owl that she had seen before, so Hermione was careful in opening the window and examining the package that came with it. There was a strange type of small chest and a note attached to it, but Hermione's breath hitched when she recognised the writing on the note.

**Granger,**

**You should probably know that the location of your home is now knowledge to the Death Eaters, so I would recommend that you take some steps to protect anyone that you need to. I know it's been months since you've heard from me and you've probably spent them agonising over what's been happening with me, so I figured that you could use a catchup. It's been hell, that's all I can say. I'm sure that you've probably guessed that I'm stuck at Malfoy Manor, which is now basically the de facto head base for the Death Eaters and to make it even better, Moldy Voldy is taking up residence here too.**

**I'm sure that you know what happened that night on the Astronomy Tower thanks to Potter, though I'm not sure how he would've told you the story. All you need to know is that I didn't want to kill Dumbledore, and I had almost considered accepting his offer for help before Snape showed up and offed him instead. It's not the first death that I've seen, but that doesn't make seeing it any easier. I might not have liked or respected the man at all, but I still didn't want to have to kill Dumbledore.**

**I've been driving myself mad over here, and I just knew that I needed to find a way to talk to you to save me from going completely mental. So I managed to find this box, which basically has the same powers as the Vanishing Cabinet given the fact it can allow us to send messages back and forth, with myself having a twin as well. It's far too risky to use owl mail, since the owls are being intercepted and messages tampered with even more now. I was only able to get away with this because it's not a registered owl. **

**Given the state of everything at the moment, I don't know what you plan to do as far as school is concerned. You're probably better off not going at all, since you would be a target for the new staff that are about to be given their jobs, and they're sure to be Death Eaters. I'm sure that Potter isn't dumb enough to return either, so you're better off sticking with him. I know that this isn't something I haven't told you, but I do care for you in some unique way so please, try your best not to get killed like a suicidal Gryffindor.**

**Take care,**

**Draco.**

Words couldn't describe how much this letter had meant to Hermione, despite the direness of its contents. It brought a smile to her face to know that Draco was still thinking of her, and that in some way, he did care for her. That was all she needed to here. And to now be able to communicate with him after being unsure if she would ever hear from him again was just an added bonus. These months away from Draco had only intensified Hermione's feelings as she longed to see him, and hoped that he was alright. And the fact that he was able to acknowledge some kind of care for her had to mean something too.

Thanks to this box, Hermione knew that she wouldn't be alone no matter what happened. It was just a relief to know that she would still have him to talk to, though Hermione suspected that it meant more to him than it did to her. Hermione would at least have Harry and Ron for company, while all Draco would have is a house full of Death Eaters. With the uncertainty of the future still on her mind, Hermione just had to hope that when she would see Draco again, he wouldn't be completely ruined by the war. She hoped that they'd both be able to survive the war so that maybe, just maybe, there would be a chance for something more.

If not, Hermione was perfectly content with being Draco's confident if it meant getting him through these dark hours when he was for sure to need her, just like how she was going to need him.

* * *

**This chapter was more of a shorter one compared to the usual chapters, and it's probably the one that I'm the most iffy about just because of how the plot went along. Anyways, they'll be back to their communicating through letters routine now that they'll be miles apart, so things are back to the beginning for our favourite couple.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Now we're getting closer to the end, with this chapter marking ten chapters left of the story. Even though I originally said that there'd be 23, things changed as I wrote the story so now it's going to stand at 24. Updates might become less frequent now, since I'm starting to get busy in my life but I had some spare time and I wanted to get this chapter out for you guys so I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Within a matter of days, everything that Hermione had planned for came into fruition. As expected, Bill and Fleur's wedding had been a disaster and she had been forced to make an escape with Harry and Ron. Luckily, Hermione was always prepared for everything so they had managed to get away with the required essentials, including the box that Draco had sent to her. There had only been a few moments when Hermione was able to write to him given the fact that she was always surrounded once she went to the Burrow. But now that she, Harry and Ron were hiding out at Grimmauld Place, Hermione had a lot more private time to talk to Draco.

It was almost refreshing, being able to speak to him as a way of taking a break from everything that was going on with Harry and Ron, mostly because it was just frustrating for them to have made no progress with trying to find Slytherins locket after discovering who the elusive R.A.B. was. They'd tried searching Grimmauld Place with the hope of finding the locket, only to end up empty handed. That was, until they had been informed by Kreacher that the locket had in fact been at the house, but it had been stolen by Mundungus Fletcher.

Of course it wasn't that surprising, since Fletcher had been a lower ranking member of the Order, so he would know where Grimmauld Place was. Then there was the fact that Fletcher was a renowned thief, so of course he would steal anything that looked remotely valuable. Once Harry had sent Kreacher to find Fletcher, the trio stayed waiting in Grimmauld Place as they waited for him to return. At the same time, Hermione was somewhat eager to see Fletcher again, since although she had seen him before the Battle of the Seven Potters, she had not been able to speak with him. Hermione had hoped that Fletcher had found out more about the books, because of course Hermione wanted to know the answers to everything.

So when Kreacher did manage to find Fletcher and force him into Grimmauld Place, he did give them the information that they needed to find Slytherin's locket. But there was just that small part of Hermione that needed to know the truth behind these books, and just how they had managed to get to a simple writing shop in Diagon Alley. Once Harry and Ron kicked Fletcher out, Hermione offered to escort him out so that he couldn't steal anything else, though Hermione had her own reasons for offering.

"Stupid bloody elf," Fletcher muttered.

"I'm going to ignore that and ask you something else," Hermione stated. "Did you find out anything else about the books?"

"Why should I tell you after you had me attacked by a damn elf?" Fletcher growled.

"Because you stole from us and left us out there to die," Hermione pointed out.

"I was protectin' myself!" Fletcher argued.

"Regardless, you still owe us. So you can repay that debt by telling me if you know anything," Hermione said.

"If you must know, I did some searching and looking. And I should thank you, Granger, because you helped me hit the jackpot. I managed to sweep the other set of books for myself and I only wish that I had the full set," Fletcher explained.

"Why? What's so special about those books?" Hermione inquired.

"They're centuries old, that's what. Almost as old as that school of yours. Heck, they even belonged to the founders themselves," Fletcher smirked as he reached into his bag.

Hermione gasped, "You're serious?"

"I don't joke about deals this good, Granger. Just look at this fine craftsmanship. And it's all mine," Fletcher grinned as he held out the other two books.

"What are you going to do with them?" Hermione wondered.

Fletcher scoffed, "What do you think? I'm gonna sell them. I could make a fortune off these babies. I wouldn't even have to work again once I sell these with the money I could get."

"You wouldn't," Hermione muttered.

Just the thought of Mundungus Fletcher having something as valuable as those books in his possession made Hermione's skin crawl. He didn't deserve to abuse the privilege of having something that was an important part of magical history. If Hermione had those books, she would study them and treat them with ultimate care to discover their secrets. Selling them as if they were nothing was not something that she would do.

"So, right now I will thank you for giving me the opportunity to have these books. You've really helped me hit the jackpot," Fletcher smirked.

As he made his way towards the door, this overwhelming sense of knowing what she needed to do came over Hermione, and she found herself casting Obliviate on Mundungus Fletcher and swiping the books from him before he could even realise what was happening. Hermione had only intended to wipe the memories of their conversations, and considering her past experience with the Obliviate spell, Hermione trusted her ability with it.

"Well…" Fletcher trailed off.

"You can leave now," Hermione ordered.

That's what happened, as Fletcher left Grimmauld Place with a somewhat dazed look about him. There was no way that Hermione was going to let him walk away with something as precious as those books. Now they were in her hands, and Hermione knew that she was going to do the right thing by them. But before Hermione could figure out what the deal was with those books, she had to figure out a way to get herself, Harry and Ron into the Ministry to get that locket off Umbridge.

~*•°•*~

Once again, everything that Hermione had planned for ended up going chaotic but as per usual, it helped that Hermione was always three steps ahead. So as Yaxley tried to stop them in their escape, Hermione whisked herself, Harry and Ron away to another location. Now it was going to be even harder for Hermione to communicate with Draco, since they constantly needed to be on watch and she would always have either Harry or Ron over her shoulder in that small tent.

But once Hermione did have a few moments to herself, she was finally able to manage to get a moment to read her latest message from Draco. After the incident at the Ministry, Hermione knew that word would spread about their activities, so it was no surprise to her that Draco had heard about it and that it was the first thing he mentioned.

**Granger,**

**First of all, what the fuck were you thinking, breaking into the Ministry like that? I know that you're a reckless Gryffindor and all, but even you should have more common sense than that. Someone like you walking into the Ministry is about as dumb and reckless as Potter showing up to the Death Eater headquarters. To think I thought you were better than that. Anyways, I'm sure that you had your reasons to do something as stupid as breaking into the ministry so I'm just going to let this slide so I can vent now.**

**Hogwarts fucking sucks now, Granger. I never really appreciated it that much before and I even came to resent it, but now I wish that things could go back to the way that they used to be in the simpler times when Snape wasn't headmaster and we didn't have Death Eaters for teachers. Snape isn't actually that bad, since it's his new staff recruits that are causing the most problems. I don't know if you've ever heard of the Carrow's, but they're a pair of Death Eater siblings with a bit of a sadistic nature, kind of like my Aunt Bellatrix, but just not as fucking crazy.**

**There's already been a lot of changes around here. The Carrow siblings have taken over the newly vacant positions of Defence and Muggle Studies, though Defence is now just like Dark Arts where they force us to practice Dark Magic. Muggle Studies is now a mandatory subject too, and it's basically just Alecto Carrow spewing prejudice and pureblood superiority and how the muggles are inferior to us. It's a lot like if Umbridge was still running the place, since any misbehaviours are either tortured or forced to torture the younger students. **

**I'm always someone that the Carrow's look to first to provide a demonstration, and I fucking hate it. I couldn't even perform the Killing Curse, and they expect me to be able to use the Cruciatus Curse? You'd be happy to know that your little friends she-Weasley and Longbottom aren't taking any of this easily, and they're just about the only two willing to stand up to the Carrow's. Typical Gryffindors.**

**Wherever it is that you are now, you better keep your suicidal Gryffindor ass out of trouble because I think that I would lose my mind if I didn't have anyone else to vent to, since it's not like any of my friends could even begin to understand me.**

**Regards,**

**Draco.**

That last sentence made Hermione smile, but then she frowned as well. Despite loving the feeling that came from Draco implying that he cared about her, she still felt bad that he didn't have anyone to be there for him in person. They could trade letters all they want, but nothing could really compare to having the support of someone by your side or a shoulder to lean on. This was also the first letter where Draco had mentioned what was going on at Hogwarts in her absence, and it only made Hermione feel confident that she had made the right decision to go with Harry.

As much as Hermione would have loved to be able to help her friends at Hogwarts, she knew that it would be too dangerous for her to be there. If anything, Hermione was safer on the run with Harry than she was going to school, especially now that there were new staff in the form of Death Eaters with their unorthodox disciplinary actions. But just being able to get a glimpse of the outside world through these letters was enough for Hermione, and she was more than ready to write back.

**Draco,**

**It saddens me to hear what is happening at Hogwarts in my absence, since I can't help but feel like that maybe if I was there, I would be able to help more. But I know that I can help Harry more than anyone else in the world, and he needs as much help as he can get. We're on a mission right now, a mission that we need to complete if there is to be any hope of defeating You-Know-Who. We needed to break into the Ministry in order to make progress, so it was a case of maximum risk for maximum reward, and it managed to work out in our favour with only Ron getting splinched on our way out.**

**Things might be difficult now, but I hope that you are able to use that Slytherin resourcefulness like how I use my Gryffindor recklessness so that you can help in any way you can. You don't even have to be frank with Ginny and Neville, since it wouldn't do you any good. But if you could just help in secret, that would be more than enough. I wish that I could be there to talk to you in person, since I understand how it feels to not have your only friends understand you. It's difficult with Harry and Ron right now, because I feel like they're acting more on edge as we struggle to figure out where to go next.**

**As you figure out a way to help, I would also appreciate it if you were able to look into the founders of Hogwarts for me. Any information would be valuable, even if it's something as small as a signature trick or something that might seem insignificant at first glance. There's only so much information that I have on hand, and like I said, we need all the help we can get. **

**Regards,**

**Hermione.**

It was almost strange how they wrote these letters like they were expecting to get them from anyone else. Even when they spoke together in the diaries, they always acknowledged each other first before continuing the conversation. In some ways, Hermione felt like it create some boundaries for each other because of how they addressed each other. She knew that Draco only saw her as a confident, but there was still a part of him that had to care for her deep down.

Thinking about the books made Hermione want to find out anything that she could, which was why she asked Draco to look into anything about the founders. It also helped for their Horcrux hunt, since they had assumed that Voldemort's other Horcrux's were something special to the founders. Hermione wasn't sure just yet how she wanted to bring up the books to Draco again, since she only wanted to reveal her secrets once she knew for sure just how this came to be.

For now, the two books that she had swiped from Mundungus Fletcher lay at the bottom of her extension bag, and Hermione had no intentions of using them any time soon.

* * *

**And the plot thickens on the books. As much as the story is about how Draco and Hermione's own relationship develops, there's also a part of the plot that's about the secrets of the books that Hermione is one step closer to uncovering the truth about.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I've certainly got a lot more time on my hands now that basically everything is closed. It just means that I've got to do a lot of my work online now, which I hate. If any of you faithful readers out there have any good Dramione fics to read during this time then let me know, because I've certainly got more space in my favourites list.**

* * *

To say that their Horcrux hunt was turning out to be a less than ideal situation would be an understatement. Ron had left, and it was just Hermione and Harry now. Ron leaving them like that had left Hermione with an overwhelming sense of betrayal, because they were supposed to be in this together and he had just abandoned them. Despite that, Hermione still missed him, since Harry was already down in the dumps and there was only so much comfort that Hermione could get from writing to Draco.

Harry and Hermione were currently hiding out together, with Hermione on guard while Harry remained in the tent. She was writing to Draco, which was something she had done a lot of since Ron had left. He had now become a source of comfort for her like she knew she was for him.

_It's lonely, without Ron. Harry and I barely speak unless it's a necessity. We're just so lonely and isolated out here. Ron almost livened the mood for us, and now that he's gone we have nobody to do that. I know I should be mad at him for leaving, but I can't help but miss him._

**That's pretty much me at Hogwarts, except I miss my mother. I'm surrounded by so many people, but it always feels isolating. I'm always in just a shite mood at the drop of a hat, and I know my friends are getting tired of my attitude. I just wish I could be with my mother. I hate the thought of her being alone at the Manor with that bald snake man. Father is there, but he doesn't have the sway he used to with the Dark Lord. Everything just sucks.**

_Speaking of Hogwarts, have you tried helping Ginny and Neville like I suggested?_

**There have been a few instances. Longbottom was about to take another beating from the Carrow's but I distracted them to give him space. She-Weasley almost got detention but I took the blame for her. I think they're starting to get suspicious, since they're always looking at me with that kind of look.**

_Then perhaps you should arrange a meeting with them. You might be able to help them, but they could also help you. You would just have to prove that your intentions are genuine. Tell Ginny that the 'diary' she caught me writing in was actually a book that let us communicate together. Give them valuable information that might help them more. Start small._

**I'll give it a try, but I wouldn't be surprised if She-Weasley and Longbottom don't hex me on the spot or dose me with Veritaserum like you did. **

"Hermione?"

Her head shot around to see Harry standing behind her. She then shoved her notes into her bag so that he wouldn't see what she was writing. The last thing Hermione needed was for Harry to find out what she was doing.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Your shift is over, I just called out to you," Harry said.

"Oh, I was just a bit distracted," Hermione replied.

"What's that?" Harry questioned, pointing at the box in her hands.

"It's nothing," she answered as she shoved it into her bag. "Just a little antique."

"Well, you can head inside now. I'll keep watch," Harry stated.

"Alright," she nodded as she got up to leave.

"Hermione?" Harry called back to her.

"Yeah?" she turned around.

Harry sighed, "Never mind."

With a look of resignation, Harry turned his back to her and she just knew that he had been thinking about Ron. It was clear to her that Harry missed his best friend, given how he would look at where Ron would sleep and fiddle with anything that was his. It was one of those times that reminded Hermione how they would always miss each other more than her, but she was okay with that now.

Once Hermione walked back inside the tent, she emptied out her bag and stared at the set of books in front of her. She had been examining them any chance she got, which wasn't many since Harry was always around her. Hermione had been able to feel the magic inside the books, but she couldn't quite deduce what kind of magic it was. Hermione was almost entirely convinced that they had belonged to the founders, since it wasn't until she looked at the blue and yellow books that she noticed Helga Hufflepuff's and Rowena Ravenclaw's initials on them. There was also the fact that the books colours matched the house colours, but that could've just been a coincidence.

"So many secrets," she whispered.

Despite her eagerness to discover what secrets were in the books, Hermione knew that her attention had to be on discovering the secrets of the Horcruxes. Without the sword of Gryffindor, they were nowhere near close to destroying the locket, let alone the other Horcruxes that they still had no idea where to find.

~*•°•*~

It was a few days later when Hermione had once again been writing to Draco. This was after the disaster of their visit to Godric's Hollow, and they were now hiding out in the Forest of Dean. It made Hermione think about her parent, which made her sad thinking about the fact that this was her first Christmas without them. Sure, she had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas before, but they had still written to her and sent presents. Now there would be nothing from her parents, and they would be celebrating Christmas without knowing that they even had a daughter.

_How was your Christmas?_

**Even worse than last years. We actually did used to celebrate it as a family before the Dark Lord took over our house. Now there's no point in celebrating at all. I already know how yours went, since I heard that you and Potter barely made it out of Godric's Hollow alive.**

_Well, at least you were still with your family._

**Mother doesn't want me going back to Hogwarts after the Christmas break. She wants me back at the Manor. I think it's because she's lonely, since father isn't one of the Dark Lord's favourites anymore so he's trying to work his way back into the Dark Lord's good graces. The Dark Lord favours Bellatrix more nowadays, and she's more mad than ever.**

_Why do you do that?_

**Do what?**

_Call him the Dark lord._

**Because it's what I have to call him. If you try calling him anything other than my Lord or the Dark Lord, you won't last long around him. **

_Why come up with a new name then if he doesn't even want to be called it?_

**I think it's more like a fear thing. He wants people to fear his name, and he certainly does a good job of doing that. **

There was once a time when Hermione feared Voldemort's name, but she had learned to use it instead of You-Know-Who thanks to Harry. Though now it wasn't like they could just say Voldemort, since doing so would hand them over to him on a silver platter. Hermione knew that Draco didn't like talking about Voldemort, and since this was one of those times when they were exchanging letters like they used to in the books, she decided to change the subject.

_Since you mentioned Hogwarts, how did things work out with Ginny and Neville?_

**She-Weasley almost did hex me the first time I approached her alone, but mentioning you got me into her good graces. I gave her the patrols list so that she and her little organisation can get around. I know that they're hiding out in the Room of Requirement, and there's almost always patrollers around to punish anyone misbehaving.**

_Well, I'm glad that you got them to talk to you. Did you make any progress on that other thing I asked you about?_

**Yes, I did manage to find out some information about the founders. As I'm sure you know, the Sword of Gryffindor is Gryffindor's signature item. But the other founders have their own little trinket as well. Salazar Slytherin had his own item too, a locket called Slytherin's Locket. It's said to be passed down through what's left of Slytherin's line. Then there's Helga Hufflepuff's cup, and Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem. Hufflepuff's cup is said to be another family heirloom, and I'm sure you know the story about the diadem.**

_Yes, it was made by Rowena Ravenclaw and her daughter wanted to make herself smarter so she took it and hid it. But it's potentially imperative that we find these things, so do you have any idea where Hufflepuff's cup or where the diadem is?_

**Like I said, Hufflepuff's cup is said to be a family heirloom while the diadem is lost to history. Don't you need to know where the sword and locket are too?**

_The sword is a mystery, but we know where Slytherin's locket is._

**Granger, I don't know what exactly it is that you're looking for but I think I'd have a right to know.**

_I'm sorry, Draco, but it's best that we keep this on a strictly need to know basis. If the wrong person finds out that we're communicating like this, you could be forced to give up these secrets which could potentially put me in jeopardy._

**Fair enough. I wouldn't want you getting hurt because of me, since I already have enough guilt on my hands.**

_You shouldn't feel guilty, Draco._

"Hermione? What are you doing?"

Once again, Harry had caught Hermione right when she was doing something that he really wasn't supposed to know. Sometimes she forgot how close their quarters actually were, and this was just another reminder as to how close they really were.

"Nothing," Hermione replied.

"You were writing something," Harry stated.

"Just notes," Hermione answered.

"You seem to be taking a lot of notes lately," Harry commented.

"Yes, well, we've got to track down those Horcruxes somehow. I'm taking notes of any items belonging to the founders," Hermione said.

"And just where are you getting this information from? It's not like we have the most extensive information at our hands," Harry pointed out.

"I'm just putting down any significant mental notes," Hermione argued.

"From your source?" Harry stated.

"What source?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, I know what that box is. I saw it in one of the books at Grimmauld Place. It's supposed to have the same powers as the Vanishing Cabinet, except it works like a message sender. I remembered seeing it from somewhere, and I just remembered now," Harry explained.

"I'm not talking to anyone, Harry," Hermione insisted.

"Then why do you have it?" Harry demanded.

Before Hermione could say anything, the box made it's activation movement, which it did by the stone on the crest changing colours. Hermione grimaced, knowing that she had been caught in the act.

"Who are you communicating with, Hermione? I have a right to know," Harry said.

Hermione sighed, knowing that she had to fess up. "Draco."

Harry's eyes widened, "Please don't tell me you mean Malfoy."

"Do we know any other Draco's?" Hermione remarked.

"How could you be writing to him, Hermione? Why would you write to him? What were you thinking?" Harry demanded.

"Why don't you let me explain first before you start bombarding me with questions?" Hermione snapped.

"There's no logical explanation as to why you of all people would be communicating with Malfoy. I don't believe this," Harry said.

"He's helping me, Harry. We've been talking like this for the better part of the last year," Hermione admitted.

Harry gawked at her, "What? Hermione, why would you do that? What could you possibly have to gain by talking to Malfoy?"

"He's giving me information and I know he's been helping Ginny and the D.A. back at Hogwarts," Hermione insisted.

"Yeah right," Harry scoffed. "Why would Malfoy even want to help you? Nothing about this makes sense at all."

"It would if you would just be quiet and listen to me!" Hermione exclaimed. When Harry finally quieted down, she continued. "It started last year. I got this book from the writing shop in Diagon Alley before it was raided by Death Eaters. I was using it to write notes for class when it started writing back to me. I didn't know who or what it was at first, but I kept writing to them, and they kept writing to me without knowing who I was either."

"So, you're telling me that you wrote in a mysterious book without knowing how it worked or who you were talking to? Do I need to remind you about the Horcrux I destroyed?" Harry remarked.

"Yes, Harry, I was fully aware of the risks associated with what I was doing. I kept it going because well, I was kind of lonely. Ron and I were fighting, and I knew you couldn't exactly be supportive for both of us while you were off ogling over Ginny," Hermione said.

"I never 'ogled' over Ginny," Harry muttered.

"Um, yes you did," Hermione argued. "Anyways, I was curious as well because I knew that the book couldn't be a Horcrux, so I kept writing to whoever it was and we shared parts of our lives that helped me figure out who they were."

"So then you did know it was Malfoy you were talking to?" Harry stated.

"Yes, after a while. The whole time we were talking, I knew that something was troubling them. They were always so guarded, and I was always initiating the conversations. They wouldn't trust me, and then when I did confront Draco, he certainly didn't trust me then," Hermione explained.

"Draco? You're on first name basis with him now then?" Harry interrupted.

"Well, we've been writing together for over a year now so what else am I supposed to call him?" Hermione remarked.

"Nothing, because you're not supposed to be communicating with him in any way. He's the enemy, Hermione. He let those Death Eaters into the school and stood by as Snape killed Dumbledore," Harry argued.

Hermione grimaced, knowing that Harry would react even worse when she told him that she knew what Draco was doing and that she knew Dumbledore would die.

"The thing is, Harry, there's a lot more to that story than you realise," Hermione said.

"What could be more to the story than what I already know?" Harry demanded, before his eyes widened in realisation. "You knew? All this time, you knew what was happening."

"Harry, you need to understand…" Hermione started.

"Understand what?" Harry cut her off. "That you've been talking to Malfoy after everything he's done?"

"He's not as bad as you think. He couldn't kill Dumbledore, you saw that with your own eyes," Hermione insisted.

"That's beside the point. He tried to use Crucio on me before I'd even whipped out my own wand. He's been nothing but a rotten git to us for years. How could you even try to defend him?" Harry demanded.

"Because he's changed," Hermione proclaimed.

Harry scoffed, "Not likely."

"Would you just listen to me?" Hermione asked.

"I've listened to enough," Harry muttered. "I'll keep watch outside so you can keep talking to your little friend. Next thing you'll tell me is that he's your boyfriend."

That being said, Harry stormed out of the tent, and although Hermione knew he would come back, she knew there was no point in going after him now. Hermione knew Harry enough to know that when he was angry like this that it was best to just let him cool off. Besides, it wasn't like Harry would even last long without Hermione, so he'd have to come around eventually.

With nothing else to do, Hermione opened up the box again and continued writing back to Draco. If Harry was going to ignore her, then she'd at least have Draco to talk to.

* * *

**So, Harry's found out about Hermione's little communication endeavours and he's less than pleased about it. You'll just have to see how the rest of this goes down, since we're nearing a very pivotal part of the story.**


	17. Chapter 17

**So I guess I lied when I said that I won't have that much time to write since instead of using that time to work on my assignments, I'm using it to procrastinate and write more fanfiction.**

* * *

Things were still tense between Harry and Hermione for the next few days, and that feeling remained once Ron returned to the Horcrux hunt, since she was still mad at him as well. Hermione figured that Harry hadn't told Ron about her little writings since he hadn't gone and confronted her about 'communicating with the enemy' and was still trying to get back into her good graces. She was just mad at both of them, which wasn't exactly something new since Hermione was always mad one of them. They just had a way of irking her to no end which made Hermione wonder why she was still even friends with them. But then she remembered that they'd be basically lost without her and Hermione didn't exactly fancy a world with Voldemort in charge so it looked like she'd be stuck with those loveable idiots forever.

They were currently heading to the Lovegood house in order to find out more about the mark that Hermione had found on several occasions. Ron was leading the way, since he was the only one of them that knew where to go, while Harry and Hermione trailed behind. Harry was ahead of Hermione, while she lagged at the back until they were practically standing side by side.

"I didn't tell him, you know. About Malfoy," Harry said.

"I figured as much, because if you did I doubt that Ronald would even want my forgiveness," Hermione commented.

"He thinks you're mad at him because you have feelings for him," Harry stated.

Hermione sighed, "Used to. I _used _to have feelings for Ron. They're gone now, thank Merlin."

Another silence fell over them, and Hermione couldn't quite understand what Harry was doing next to her. He was supposed to be mad at her, wasn't he? It was always hard to tell what Harry was feeling, since his feelings always tended to change at the drop of a hat.

"I thought about it. I get it, you know. I don't understand why, but I just get it," Harry said.

"What do you get?" Hermione asked.

"Why you'd wanna talk to Malfoy, or anyone else, for that matter. I thought I was the only one with a lot on my plate in the past year, but you've had your own issues too. I was being selfish," Harry stated.

"What made you come to that conclusion?" Hermione wondered, even though he was exactly right.

Harry sighed, "With Ron back, I was thinking about you guys fighting last year. I barely paid attention to whatever you guys were arguing about while I was off doing my own things."

"You mean obsessing over Draco and ogling over Ginny?" Hermione remarked.

"Yes," Harry grumbled. "And helping Dumbledore, but then you just let him die when you knew what Malfoy was up to."

"The thing is, Harry, Dumbledore knew what Malfoy was doing. I _told _him myself, and Dumbledore completely ignored me and said he basically already knew what was happening," Hermione stated.

Harry narrowed his eyes, "What? I don't believe that. Dumbledore wouldn't just stand by and let someone kill him."

"Except he did, Harry. He knew what Draco was doing and made no attempt to intervene or stop him. He merely dismissed my concerns when I told him what Draco was doing," Hermione said.

"How did you even know what Malfoy was up to? I doubt he'd tell some stranger in a book what he was doing," Harry wondered.

"You're right, he didn't tell me. I figured it out on my own. Then I confronted him about it, and he admitted to it but refused my help," Hermione replied.

"He obviously accepted it then if he's helping you now," Harry realised.

"He didn't accept my help until after you almost murdered him with Sectumsempra," Hermione quipped.

Harry grimaced, "Wait a minute… is that why you took the map? To see Malfoy?"

"Yes, Harry. I needed to see him. I couldn't stand the thought of him being there in a hospital bed while knowing that you were responsible for his condition. He didn't seem to resent you for it, though. He basically wished that you'd finished him off," Hermione explained.

"Is he really helping you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, he is. I asked him for help and he's been giving it to me. I didn't even ask him for help and he was helping me just by listening and responding to me. I even had him helping Ginny and Neville at Hogwarts," Hermione said.

"Come to think of it, I did see Malfoy around them a lot on the map, so I guess that makes sense now," Harry commented.

"So, you're okay with it now?" Hermione asked carefully.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I just needed some time to think about things from your perspective, and I realise now that you shouldn't have even needed to talk to Malfoy to get support. I should've been a better friend, and I'm sorry," Harry apologised.

Hermione smiled softly, "Oh, Harry. I could never stay mad at you for _that _long. Ron, on the other hand, deserves more of my anger."

"Come on, Mione. I forgave Ron," Harry remarked.

"Only because he destroyed a Horcrux for you. He hasn't done anything for me except be a jerk," Hermione argued.

"He feels bad about leaving, he really does. And if you can forgive Malfoy after he was a jerk to you or all these years, surely you can forgive Ron," Harry pointed out.

"Oh, just let me be mad at Ron in my own time," Hermione snapped.

That earned a laugh from Harry, and they continued walking together at a faster speed as Ron called for them to hurry up. It was nice for Hermione to know that Harry was okay with it, even though it was almost surprising that it only took him this long to get over it. Then again, Harry had always been more able to move on from conflict than Ron. But if Harry's reaction was anything to go by, then Hermione could only wonder how Ron would react when he eventually found out what Hermione was doing while she was mad at him.

~*•°•*~

Just when Hermione thought that things were going to start looking up for them, everything turns for the worst. They had been betrayed by Lovegood, and sent to Malfoy Manor. Despite the fact that Hermione had been missing Draco, she didn't want to see him under these kind of circumstances. When their eyes met, Hermione could see the look of dread on his face and she too was dreading what came next.

When Bellatrix demanded that Draco identify Harry, Hermione thought it was all over. But then Draco surprised them all and failed to identify Harry when he clearly knew who it was. The fact that he didn't do that made Hermione's heart swell. There was still hope for him. But then things got worse when Bellatrix sent Harry and Ron to the cellar so she could interrogate Hermione about the sword.

The entire ordeal was the worst thing that Hermione had endured. Despite her best attempts at not giving Bellatrix the satisfaction of her screams, Hermione hadn't been able to help herself. She just lied there and writhed in pain on the floor as Bellatrix carved her dagger into her skin. There was a split moment when Hermione was able to spare a look Draco's way, and the look on his face just about broke her heart. When it looked like he was about to make a move, Hermione gave him a look as if to say: do not move. As much as Hermione wanted the help, she knew that any move he made could potentially make things worse for all of them.

But then Dobby showed up, and they were all rescued from Malfoy Manor and taken to Shells Cottage. The entire ordeal had left Hermione shaken to the core, and she couldn't bare to look at that hideous slur that would leave a mark on her forearm. Although Harry and Ron tried their best to comfort her, there was nothing that they could do to make Hermione feel better. There was only one person that could help her, so when she was finally feeling ready, she pulled out the hidden box and wrote for it.

_Draco._

**Granger, I'm so fucking sorry. I'm sorry that I just stood there like a coward and let my Aunt torture you. You didn't deserve that.**

_Do not apologise. There is nothing that you could've done. Anything that you would've done only would've made things worse._

**I'm just glad that you and Potter made it out alive. The Dark Lord came back, and he has never been more displeased to us. We're now bound to the Manor as punishment for letting Potter get away, though it's not like that really changes anything since we were already prisoners in our own house. Now it's just official and I can barely stand to be in my own home.**

_I'm sorry._

**Like you have anything to apologise for. You know, I kinda wish that I'd made a move to leave with you too. I was just too stunned to even do anything. But what happened with Bellatrix's knife? It disappeared as you disapparated with Dobby.**

_We're all fine, but Dobby got struck with the knife. He died._

**Oh. You know, I never really treated him the best, since that was what father did whilst we still had him, but I certainly appreciated him more than I ever did in that moment when he got you out of there.**

_We gave him a respectful burial because it was what Harry wanted. Harry had grown to really care for Dobby. His death saddened all of us._

**Also, what was with that look Potter gave me when he took his wand back? It was kind of scandalised.**

_Harry knows about us. He caught me writing to you around Christmas and was mad at me for a while because of it. He didn't accept it until we were heading to the Lovegood house._

**Does anyone else know?**

_No, just Harry. And I plan on keeping it that way until we no longer have to hide our communication._

**It's becoming a bit harder for me to write to you now. There's almost always someone around me which makes it difficult to write in private.**

_I have nothing but privacy now, even though there's always someone checking up on me._

**As they should. I'm sorry, Granger. I really am. I never wanted anyone else to get caught in trouble because of my cowardice after last year. **

_Draco, you do not have to apologise. You were not the one who carved into my skin with glee. That was all Bellatrix. You cannot blame yourself for her actions._

**But I can't help but feel like there was something I should've done to make things different. You know, I've been feeling a lot of things lately.**

_Like what?_

**Just… feelings. Nothings really the same as it used to be, like us. I never thought I would come to rely on Hermione Granger.**

_And I would have to share the same sentiment._

**It's not the only sentiment that we share either.**

_What else do you mean?_

**Granger, remember how you cornered me in the hospital wing and I demanded to know why you were so insistent on helping me?**

… _Yes._

**Then I'm sure you remember what you said to me.**

_Of course. _

**I realise that my way of sharing this with you probably isn't ideal, but considering the circumstances it'll probably be the only chance I get before you undoubtedly get yourself into trouble. I now share that sentiment.**

Hermione recoiled in shock as she read the words on the piece of paper. Truthfully, she had almost forgotten about her bizarre feelings for Draco. It wasn't like she had much time to ponder them in the recent months that she had spent on the run. And despite how she did feel towards him, Hermione was more than willing just to be a beacon of support for Draco. But hearing… or reading… that he now shared those feelings brought them all back. It was just shocking. Even more shocking than Harry accepting her communicating with Draco.

_I don't understand. When did that change?_

**When you were at the Manor, actually. Seeing Bellatrix torture you like that just made my stomach turn, and the thought of you dying just wasn't something I could live with. Then I remembered how I felt after your Ministry escapade, and it was the same thing. I just don't even want to think about you getting hurt, Granger, and not just because I need someone to vent to, but because I actually care about you in a way I never thought possible.**

_Draco… I don't know what to say._

**Well, I'll give you some time to react to it then, since I'm about to get busted. Get well, Granger. And above all things, take care.**

As Hermione stared down at the words written in front of her, Hermione couldn't help the small smile that crept upon her face, and this was the first time she had smiled in a long time, even before her ordeal with Bellatrix. And to think it was all because Draco Malfoy said that he had feelings for her. Though this really wasn't the way that Hermione had wanted to find out, but just knowing made her happy, and she hoped that once this was all over and the dust cleared, they would be able to talk about this in person, without having to write to each other.

* * *

**And there you have it. Draco now feels the same way, and it only took seventeen chapters with six more left, and they won't even be able to be together properly until the end of the story. Talk about slow burn. I'd originally planned for Draco to reveal his feelings after the Ministry incident, but then I decided on dragging it out for a more pivotal reveal, which is what you got here so I hope the wait was worth it.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry for being a few weeks late with this update, I got a little busy with assessment since I'm always such a procrastinator who leaves everything to the last minute. But I am currently assessment free I figured that I better squeeze this chapter in now rather than keep you guys waiting any longer.**

* * *

In the aftermath of Draco's confession to her, Hermione found herself thinking about that more than the torture that she had suffered at the hands of Bellatrix. It was impossible for her not to think about the fact that Draco Malfoy of all people basically admitted that he had feelings for her that were beyond prejudiced. Hermione could only wish that she was able to understand how he felt this way about her, since it was not even a year ago that he was still calling her a mudblood.

But a lot has certainly changed in a year. A lot had changed in the past few months alone. Hermione never would've expected that she would one day be having civil conversations with Draco, but now she wasn't exactly sure where things would go between them. For the first time since her communication with Draco began, Hermione was at a loss as to what she was supposed to do now. It didn't help that they were basically on other sides of the world, unable to be together.

Then there was the issue of them being in the middle of a war, with them both being on different sides. Of course Hermione knew that Draco didn't really want to fight for Voldemort, but he basically had no choice about what he could do. It was sad, really. Hermione just had to know what he could be thinking. It was impossible for her to take his words at face value since he hadn't even said it to her face to face. Hermione just wished that she could hear him say those words to her with his voice, not reading them through a piece of paper.

In the weeks after their arrival at Shell's Cottage, they had come up with another plan in order to acquire what they believed was a Horcrux in Bellatrix's vault at Gringotts. Hermione knew that everyone was worried about her, since she would always spend so much time away from the group and keep to herself. They probably assumed that she was struggling to cope with her torture, which was true, but Hermione was also contemplating her future with Draco. It wasn't until Harry approached her on the beach when she remembered that he knew about them, so she may as well talk to someone while she could.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Harry asked as he sat by her.

"I'm okay," she smiled weakly.

"You've been a bit… isolated recently. We're worried about you," Harry said.

"I know," Hermione sighed. "Harry, did you ever doubt Ginny's feelings for you?"

Harry narrowed his eyes, "What does Ginny have to do with this?"

"Just answer the question," Hermione snapped.

"Well, of course I did," Harry shrugged. "There was always a part of me that kind of wondered if what she felt for me was real or if she only felt that way about me because of her idolisation or because it was expected of her to fancy me. But Ginny just… gets me. She gets me in a way that you and Ron don't. I had made her wait all those years while I was having yearly battles with You-Know-Who and it wasn't even like she just fell into my arms when I showed any signs of reciprocating her feelings."

"Do you think you'll be okay after the war?" Hermione wondered.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. There's still the question if I'll even live to survive the war. There's a lot of uncertainty about everything, so you can't really prepare for any of that," Harry replied.

"I suppose you have a point," Hermione murmured.

"What's this about, anyways?" Harry asked.

"It's about… Malfoy," Hermione admitted.

Harry cringed, "Oh, right. I was doing a good job of not thinking about that until you reminded me of it."

"It's just, he told me he cares about me, like how you care about Ginny, after the events at the Manor," Hermione said.

"How can he say that when he didn't even try to do anything to help you?" Harry argued.

"Harry, you know just as well as I do that if he had done anything out of line that he would've been killed. He has no choice but to do what is expected of him. There was a point where I thought he was going to help me, but I just had to make sure he didn't. It would've ended worse if he had done anything to help," Hermione reasoned.

"I guess you have a point. I just don't understand how you can feel anything for him when he's been nothing but a git to us for the past six years," Harry said.

"It's just hard to explain, really. When we first started writing together, I knew that I felt something towards whoever I was writing to. But then I discovered it was him, and I really tried to separate the two, but it was impossible to do that when Draco was who I had been writing to," Hermione admitted.

"Yeah, that is a bit complicated," Harry agreed. "So, you _feel _things for him and he feels that for you. What's the problem?"

"You did not just ask that," Hermione deadpanned.

"Well, you both care for each other in a way that I can't even begin to understand. How is that a problem?" Harry elaborated.

Hermione sighed, "Well, it's like you and Ginny. I can't help but wonder if what he feels for me is real or if I'm just a distraction. It's not like we've even had a face to face conversation about this. The only time we talked about it was when I made my feelings clear while he was firmly stating that he felt nothing for me."

"Maybe being couped up in that house of his has made him go insane," Harry remarked.

"That's what I'm worrying about," Hermione muttered.

"Look, Hermione. I might not understand whatever it is you have with Malfoy, but I guess you just have to believe that he really does care for you, even though I don't want him to," Harry said.

"I guess that's all I really can do," Hermione agreed. "Since when did you become so insightful?"

"Maybe spending all of that time with Dumbledore rubbed some insight on me," Harry remarked.

Hermione laughed for the first time in what felt like forever. She had missed moments like these. Moments that weren't filled with tension and the looming doom over their heads. It was nice to know that they could still act like normal friends rather than teenagers who were fighting in a war.

"You'll figure it out, Hermione. You always do," Harry said.

With that in mind, Hermione headed back to the cottage with Harry where she sat by her message box and waited for it to give her a sign. That was how Hermione spent most of her time, waiting for something from Draco. She had only spoken to him two times since his confession, and both times had been brief interactions which concerned Hermione. But then the box activated, and Hermione eagerly opened it to read his latest message.

**Granger, I should probably apologise for not being active in the past few weeks. The Dark Lord was furious that we had allowed Potter to escape and we're practically on house arrest. Bellatrix has turned her cruelty to me, since I was the one who failed to identify Potter. Mother is furious at her, and father is just doing whatever he can to get by. It's a mess, really. I can barely stand to be in my own home anymore. I haven't had much time to write, and I barely have time to write now.**

_I'm sorry that you feel that way about your home. We have also been hiding out, and I have been taking my time to recover from Bellatrix's torture. I knew she was cruel, but I didn't realise just a how cruel she truly was until she was carving her dagger into my arm despite the fact that I hadn't done anything wrong. I hope she isn't giving you the same treatment._

**Bellatrix knows better than to lay a hand on me like that with mother around. But that doesn't stop her from hitting and belittling me when mother is not around. We're all basically prisoners now, and I'm sure Aunt Bella is having Azkaban flashbacks. I never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather be in Azkaban than at the Manor.**

_You mustn't feel that way. It is important to keep hope, and believe that all will be as it should be when the war is over._

**That's if Potter even wins the bloody war.**

_He will. We're getting closer to defeating You-Know-Who. We've come up with another plan to make that achievable._

**Would I even want to know what this plan is?**

_You would probably think that it's a suicidal mission, which it very well could be, but it is something that we must do. You'll probably here about it when it happens, so I see no point in telling you now._

**You certainly are a glutton for trouble, aren't you, Granger? Your acts of idiocy give me more grey hairs than the Dark Lord does.**

_Because you care about me._

**Yes, because I care about you.**

_How though?_

**What do you mean?**

_How can you suddenly care about me after insisting for the longest time that you felt nothing for me?_

**Things changed. I suppose I was subconsciously in denial and did not want to face the ramifications of feeling something towards someone like you.**

_Someone like me?_

**You know what I mean, Granger. Don't make me say it.**

Of course she knew what he meant. Draco's prejudice towards her identity was probably his biggest obstacle to overcome. It couldn't have been easy for Draco to accept what he felt towards Hermione as a muggleborn. She only wished that she could understand what he had to be thinking.

_I'm sorry Draco, but I just struggle to comprehend how you can go from wanting nothing to do with me to feeling that way._

**I suppose I understand. You know, when I came back to Hogwarts, I was alone. I thought that after what happened, I would have more popularity than ever. But it just wasn't the same. My family is hardly respected in pureblood circles anymore, and they're not respected anywhere for that matter. Then I came home and I was even more alone. It just made me want you, because I knew that no matter how much of a prick I was, you'd just listen and be there for me in a way that nobody else could. What I can't even begin to understand is how you could offer your support to me after what I had done.**

_Then I guess we both have a lot to talk through once we see each other again._

**If we see each other again. First you have to survive your stupid suicidal mission and then we both have to survive the war. I'd like to have a chance at something good for once.**

_And you will._

**I'm sorry, but I must go now. It sounds like Bellatrix is approaching, and I can't risk her catching me like this. Do not send me anything else, I will instigate our next moment of communication.**

With a sigh, Hermione rolled up the piece of paper and put it with the rest of their messages. Hermione had started filing their messages, even going as far back to the messages from the books that had been spat out from them. Sometimes she found herself re-reading their old messages as a form of comfort. They helped, and Hermione just had to hope for that time when they would finally be able to be together face to face rather than through messages.

~*•°•*~

As with everything that they had planned, it started off well before it all hit the fan. Riding the dragon had probably been the most exhilarating moment of Hermione's life, but she knew there was more to come. Especially now that they were back in Hogwarts. She was currently waiting in the Room of Requirement for the rest of the Order to arrive when she felt her box activate. Only when Hermione was sure that she didn't have anyone glancing over her shoulder did she open it.

**Granger, when you said that you were doing something dangerous and stupid I didn't think that you meant breaking into Gringotts and showing up at Hogsmeade. And to think everyone said you were smart. I'm sure you know by now that Snape knows that you're in Hogwarts and you can assume that means the Dark Lord knows too. He's coming. He's already on the move and calling his followers to head to Hogwarts. Fuck, this is it, Granger. I know it. This is what the war comes down to.**

_I knew that you would find it stupid, but it is unfortunately what we had to do, just like returning to Hogwarts was a necessity. We're rounding up as many supporters as we can since we have plans to get Hogwarts back under our control. I had hoped that we would be able to avoid some sort of confrontation, but I suppose this was inevitable._

**I don't think I'm ready for this, Granger. I can't fight. I'm too much of a fucking coward to fight. I'm being forced to go but all I want to do is stay at the Manor and act like my parents aren't just about to go to battle with a madman.**

_Just try your best to stay clear of anyone who might actually hurt you. You know when we came back Ginny told me how you had been helping them. She appreciated it. I think she may have passed on the message that you're not what they think you are._

**I guess I should take any support that I can get since at this rate, I'm going to be herded off to Azkaban if things don't work out for the Dark Lord. I just want this all to be over.**

_And it will be. Harry will win, and we'll be okay. Then I'll try to do everything I can to help you like I have done so far._

**Speaking of which, I really should be thanking you, Granger. Before you came along, I was resorting to Moaning bloody Myrtle for comfort and she's hardly any comfort. If anything, that annoying ghost just makes things worse with all her talk about death. So really, I should be thanking you for what you have done for me. I never would've expected it from you, of all people, but I am grateful for it, nonetheless. **

_Just like I am grateful that you actually chose to let me in. When this is all over, we'll be able to be together properly. We won't have to rely on sharing messages in secret to communicate. We'll be normal._

**Don't go giving me false hope now, Granger. If you go and get yourself killed I'll be bloody pissed.**

_I won't. I promise. Now I need you to make the same promise as well._

**I'll try, and that's as good as I can do. **

_I'm sorry, but I have to go now. I promise that I'll try to look out for you in the battle, but please do try and stay away from it. I probably won't be able to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, but that doesn't mean you can't try not to get caught._

**Like I said, I'll do my best. That's all you can expect from me.**

And it was. They were on the cusp of the final battle in the Wizarding War that would be dictating the rest of their lives. It was pretty frightening when Hermione thought about it that way. She may be a Gryffindor but damnit, Hermione had a right to be scared. She could see that everyone else was scared. But they had to put that fear away and face it head on because whether they were prepared or not, they had a war to win.

* * *

**So here we are. Next chapter Draco and Hermione will get their long awaited reunion so you can expect a heavy lets talk about our feelings chapter. I'll try and get it out within the next few weeks instead of leaving you guys hanging like I did after the last chapter, but I won't make any promises.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry for another delay, but I promise that I'll start working on getting this story finished near the end of the month. In light of JKR's recent comments, I'd just like to say that to any trans readers out there that you are valid and respected and that I'm sorry if her ignorant remarks have made you feel unwelcomed in the fandom anymore. But let's praise Bonnie Wright, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint for putting that TERF biatch in her place. Now feel free to unload any bashing of JKR in the reviews since that's more than welcome and anyone who supports her comments will be blocked 3.**

* * *

As the dust settled after the war had finally been won, Hermione could hardly believe that it was actually over. After she, Harry and Ron had spent some time by themselves, they headed back to the Great Hall where everyone was. It was the last place she had seen Draco as he sat there with his parents, only now he seemed to be gone as they sat there by themselves. They'd had a brief moment to themselves after what happened in the Room of Requirement, but that was more of a fleeting look between them before Draco took off running. At this point in time, there was nothing more that Hermione wanted to do than to see Draco again and finally be able to speak with him. But Ginny got to her first before she could try looking for him.

"Hey, Hermione," Ginny smiled sadly.

"Hi, Gin. How are you holding up?" Hermione asked.

Ginny sighed, "I'm trying really hard to be strong right now. I know that Fred wouldn't want us to be upset like this, but it's really hard to fight back the tears."

"It's over now though, so that's one good thing," Hermione said.

"Yeah, there's actually something that I wanted to talk to you about," Ginny stated.

"Oh?" Hermione narrowed her eyebrows.

"Malfoy," Ginny said bluntly.

"Oh," Hermione murmured.

"Come on, Hermione. You'd have to know that I would eventually bring him up. After all, I only let him help the D.A. after I knew he had your support. I suppose he ended up earning my trust regardless after he helped us," Ginny explained.

"What do you want to know?" Hermione asked.

"Just one thing, actually. Are you with him?" Ginny wondered.

"Kind of," Hermione shrugged. "It's a bit complicated. I'm not sure where we stand."

"Well, that's probably why he wants to see you. He told me to give you this message. I haven't read it, but I'm assuming that he wants to see you," Ginny said as she handed Hermione a piece of paper.

"Thank you, Ginny," Hermione nodded. "I'll see you later."

Turning around, Hermione unfolded the piece of paper before instantly recognising Draco's scrawly handwriting. How could she not, after they had been writing to each other for more than a year now? The message was quite clear, and it had Hermione darting out of the Common Room in an instant: **you will find me in the Slytherin Common Room.**

It didn't take Hermione long to find the Slytherin Common Room. It was one of the few places at Hogwarts that Hermione had never actually been to, although she would've been inside the Slytherin Dungeons in second year if not for that unfortunate Polyjuice incident. Strangely enough, Hermione didn't even need to have a password to enter the room as the entrance had been left blown open. The inside certainly didn't look any better, and with no sign of Draco she decided to look for what she thought was the boys dormitory. Sure enough, he was sitting in the room on one of the beds, facing away from the door.

"Draco," Hermione addressed him.

He turned his head to face her, and Hermione could've sworn that she saw a faint smile on his face. "Granger."

"You're still going to call me that, huh?" Hermione remarked.

Draco shrugged, "You'll always be Granger to me. I see Weaslette passed on my message."

"Why'd you give it to Ginny?" Hermione wondered.

"Because I just wanted to get away from it all and she was the first person I saw who would pass it on to you," Draco replied.

"How was it, being here and working with the D.A?" Hermione asked.

"I hardly did much. I just She-Weasley what she needed to know when it came to the Carrow's and everything else. Weaslette just about hexed me the first time I approached her, and she didn't entirely believe me when I said that you would trust me. It took her long enough to come around," Draco answered.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through what you did," Hermione apologised.

Draco scoffed, "If anyone should be apologising, it should be me for letting my psychotic aunt torture you like she did."

"There was nothing you could've done that would've made anything better," Hermione reassured him.

"Still doesn't make me feel any better," Draco muttered.

"At least Bellatrix is dead now," Hermione stated.

"I should thank mother Weasley for that," he scowled.

"Why aren't you with your parents?" Hermione asked.

"I just didn't want to be around anyone else, so before they could stop me I just got out of there. I only came here because it was basically my home for six years, not that I really enjoyed it that much," Draco said.

"I'm sorry about Crabbe," Hermione apologised. Even though Crabbe had essentially killed himself and would have killed them all if he could, Hermione knew that he was still Draco's friend and she could tell from their brief moment after the Room of Requirement that Crabbe's death had shook him.

Draco sighed, "I am too. We were supposed to be friends, but I guess in hindsight I treated them more like sidekicks than anything else. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever had a real friend. At least until you came along."

Hermione smiled softly, "I'm glad that you can think of me that way now."

"How could I not, after you put up with pathetic ass for the past year without expecting anything in return? I still can't understand why you did it, but I appreciate it more than you could even begin to understand. Without you to talk to, I probably would've gone mental. Salazar's balls, I was already going mental," Draco said.

"But you're fine now. Everything's going to be oaky," Hermione stated.

"I'm not sure about _that_, Granger. I'm a Death Eater, remember?" Draco pointed out.

"A coerced Death Eater," Hermione argued.

"That doesn't matter. I've still got this bloody thing on my arm and the Ministry will probably send me to Azkaban the first chance they get. That's also kind of why I left. I'm just biting my time before I get sent to my own cell in Azkaban," Draco said.

"I won't let them do that to you. I'll fight for you. I'll do whatever I can to help you," Hermione insisted.

"Thanks for the support, then. It's probably all I'm gonna get," Draco muttered.

"You don't know that! Don't sit here with a defeatist attitude before anything even happens," Hermione proclaimed.

"Your optimism is astounding, Granger," Draco murmured.

Hermione sighed. As much as she did not want to see Draco giving up on himself like this already, she could understand why he would feel this way. With that thought in mind, Hermione found herself reminded of the first time she confronted Draco in the Room of Requirement and was met with the same pessimism that he had now. Now that they were together again, Hermione was just itching to address the Hippogriff in the room and by that, she meant the status of their relationship.

"So, I guess now that we're here, it would be a good time for us to talk about, well, us," Hermione said awkwardly.

"What's there to talk about?" Draco grumbled.

"Do you really see yourself with my for the long haul? I don't want this to be just some fling, and I certainly don't want to just be used so you can get your freedom," Hermione stated.

"I thought I made myself clear in our letters," Draco remarked.

"It would just be nice to have some reassurance from you face to face, that's all," Hermione argued.

"Granger, I'm not just serious about the fact that I think I'm screwed, but I'm also serious about whatever you want to have. I guess that now just probably wouldn't be a good time for us to have anything since I'll probably be thrown into a cell at Azkaban in the blink of an eye. And I don't think you really want to have dates in a cell, do you?" Draco said.

"Probably not," Hermione agreed. "But I would still want to see you."

"You'd probably be the only thing to keep me sane in there," Draco remarked.

"So, when this is all sorted and you're a free man, we'll give this a go? For real?" Hermione said.

"Yeah, we will," Draco nodded.

"You're not going to fight me anymore?" Hermione checked.

"I'm tired of fighting," Draco replied, and Hermione knew that he wasn't just talking about them.

"I am too," Hermione murmured.

"It's over now, like you said. I always knew that Potter was an immortal prick," Draco commented.

Hermione giggled, "Yeah, I guess he is. But you have to admit it came in handy."

Draco snorted, "I never thought that I'd be grateful for Potter in my life."

"I do have some ground rules if we're going to make this work," Hermione said.

"Lay it on me, Granger," Draco drawled.

"I don't want to hear anymore bigoted prejudice coming out of your mouth. If you so much even whisper the word, that will be it," Hermione proclaimed.

"I can hardly hold onto prejudices anymore after the so-called greatest Dark Lord of all time was defeated by an army of half-bloods and muggleborns," Draco remarked. "It'll still be hard to get over, but I'll try if that's what you want me to do."

Hermione smiled softly, "And another thing is that once we get you away from Azkaban, you're going to have to try and make nice with Harry and Ron."

Draco grimaced, "Ugh, Potter and Weasley? Seriously? I can turn down the prejudice, but asking me to be friends with them is asking for a little too much."

"I'm not asking for _that _much, Draco," Hermione rolled her eyes. "I just expect you to be civil with them and to refrain from engaging in petty and pointless conflicts. Besides, don't you think that you should try since Harry you know, saved your sorry ass."

"Don't remind me," Draco groaned. "But hey, I still saved Potter's ass at the Manor so I guess that makes us both even."

"You should know that Harry knows about our… thing, anyways," Hermione commented.

"How'd he find out? Last I checked, Potter barely had two brain cells to rub together," Draco said.

"He caught me writing to you one time, and I couldn't get away with it. But it felt nice to be able to talk to Harry about it, even if he wasn't exactly thrilled about it when he initially found out," Hermione explained.

Draco scoffed, "I'd say that would be an understatement."

"Yeah, he really was pissed off about it for a while, but he came around eventually. He even helped at one point, since I was doubting what you truly felt for me," Hermione said.

"What do you mean by that?" Draco wondered.

"Well, I had made my feelings to you clear but the last time we had spoken face to face, you certainly didn't reciprocate them. So for you to suddenly turn around and share that to me, I just didn't know what to think. I doubted how genuine you were being since I needed to hear it from you in person to believe it. But Harry understood what it was like to doubt what someone truly eels for you, so he let me talk to him about it once he had come around, which conveniently was right before we got sent off to the Manor," Hermione explained.

"I doubt that Weasley would be that understanding," Draco snorted.

Hermione bit her lip nervously, "Yeah, he probably won't be pleased when he finds out. But I'd hope that Ron would be mature enough to respect our relationship."

"Are we talking about the same Weasley here?" Draco snickered.

"You're really not going to make this easy, are you?" Hermione remarked.

"When have I ever made anything easy, Granger?" Draco retorted.

"Never, I guess," Hermione replied, since it was true. Nothing about her relationship with Draco had ever been easy up until now, and she figured that nothing would ever be easy for them.

"I don't remember if I've said it yet, but I guess I should be apologising to you for being a complete and utter prat for to you for six years. I'd give excuses, but I know you'd want none of that," Draco said.

"I wouldn't," Hermione nodded. "But it does mean a lot to hear that from you with your voice rather than your written words."

A comfortable silence fell over them, and Hermione found herself feeling more at ease with Draco than she had felt in months. Words couldn't describe how thrilled Hermione was that they had both survived the war, though she knew that Draco would first have to survive Azkaban. After sitting in silence for a few moments, Draco carefully inched his hand closer to Hermione's until he was gripping it tightly, and the feeling sent a swarm of butterflies through Hermione's chest.

"I kind of want to kiss you right now," Draco admitted.

Hermione blushed as she tried to find the right words to say, "That would be appropriate."

And so that's what he did. Considering Hermione's only real kissing experience had been with Viktor Krum and a less than desired snog with Cormac McLaggen after Slughorn's Party, she didn't have much to compare it with. But Hermione had certainly read enough romance novels to know what a good kiss was supposed to be like, and this one certainly put her others to shame. It was a bit messy as their lips fumbled and brushed against each other, but the tenderness and passion of it all was exactly what you'd want from a kiss. So when they eventually pulled apart, Hermione was left someone disappointed that it was over which saw her have a desire for more.

"Took your breath away, huh?" Draco remarked as his face broke into that old and familiar cocky grin that Hermione used to hate so much.

"Oh, don't even," Hermione stammered as she playfully whacked him on the arm.

"I can't help it if I'm irresistible," Draco smirked.

"Not only that, but you're an arrogant prick," Hermione retorted.

"Never lose that touch, Granger," Draco said.

"I could say the same to you," Hermione smiled softly.

"Let's just enjoy this time while it lusts, huh?" Draco suggested as he leaned back onto the bed.

"And we'll have plenty more time to enjoy together in the future," Hermione added in an attempt to keep the mood light.

"I'd like that," Draco conceded.

"Me too," Hermione agreed.

If you had asked Hermione what she thought would be the result of her communicating with a mysterious journal, she never would've predicted that this would be the outcome. She never would've expected that a simple journal would've lead her to Draco Malfoy, and Hermione was surprised to find herself say that she was quite thankful for that. Although their path together was uncertain, Hermione had every bit of faith that they'd get through it together.

* * *

**And so that concludes the main story arc. What will follow this chapter is four bonus chapters that take place in the future before I wrap this story up. And just remember, to the trans members of the community, you are loved, appreciated and valid. Don't let anyone make you think otherwise and I'll see you guys in the bonus updates.**


	20. Chapter 20

**It's time for the bonus chapters now! I've got four of these planned and then that will conclude the end of this story. Now I'm trying to decide which dramione plot to go with next since I have so many other ideas lined up, lol.**

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In the aftermath of the war, Hermione certainly had a lot on her mind. Though her most pressing matter had been her mission to keep Draco away from Azkaban. As he predicted, Draco quickly took up residence in the dark prison, but Hermione wasn't going to let him stay there if she could help it. Hermione had promised that they would be able to be together, and she was going to keep that promise. Draco would be facing his trial in the second last week of August, and Hermione had been working tirelessly to secure him a victory.

It had been hard for Hermione to be a part from Draco after they had finally reaffirmed their relationship, only for them to be separated once again. The only saving grace was that Hermione had been allowed to write to him, though she had been unable to see him since his arrest. There were now more people who knew about her relationship with Draco, though that number was still small. Ron was one of those people who now knew, and his reaction had been somewhat better than what Hermione had anticipated. Granted, he had still been pretty ticked off and was still currently giving Hermione the silent treatment. She'd deal with Ron later, since right now her mind was with Draco.

They only got to write to each other once every few weeks, so Hermione cherished every letter she got and every letter she sent. Though as much as Hermione knew that she was missing Draco, she knew that it had to be worse for him. At least she had her own freedom while he was still locked up in Azkaban as he awaited his trial. It still brought a smile to her face to get another one of his letters, just like hers would brighten his day.

**Hermione,**

**Don't feel bad about not being able to get me out of Azkaban before my trial. I knew that the chances of organising some deal were slim, I just didn't want to say anything to you because I know how determined you can be. I'd tell you more about what's happening with me, but pretty much nothing has changed. It's still the same old routine. I'm still counting down the hours and the minutes to my trial, and for when I get to see you again. You'd think that without the presence of dementors that Azkaban would be more bearable, but it's still pretty damn miserable.**

**So, how are things going on your end? Is Weasel still being a damn shithead at the fact that I snatched you up before he could? Weasley should quit being a bitter ass, cause it's not like any relationship between you two would've turned out well. I know that, you know that and pretty much everyone else knows that too. I'm surprised that Potter even stood up for you.**

**You mentioned that McGonagall was giving out invitations to repeat our seventh year? Well, I'll probably end up doing that since I fucked up both my sixth and seventh year. Though that's if I can even avoid an Azkaban sentence. Mother has also been writing to me since her trial finished. I suppose I owe Potter a thank you for getting the panel to spare her a sentence. It was the least he could do since she did save his sorry arse, after all. My father probably won't be as lucky as mother, but I could honestly live with that. I just want to get out of here so I can go see her, and you, of course. You're optimism is starting to rub off on me, Granger, but that's mostly because I have to have some if I'm gonna make it out of here with some sanity left. **

**If anything, having to put up with these other Death Eaters and prisoners is what's driving me mad. I haven't exactly got the best reputation out here (for obvious reasons) and it just makes me even more determined to get out of this hellhole. But I guess it makes me wonder about how things are going to be when I get out of here cause I doubt that most people will be thrilled if I can avoid Azkaban. The public was hardly thrilled that my mother was spared even though she was the reason why Potter was even able to defeat the Dark Lord. Anyways, I guess I'm running out of stuff to say so I should end this letter here.**

**Counting down the days until I'm out of this hellhole,**

**Draco.**

Even though Draco never really said how much he was struggling, Hermione knew that he wasn't coping well with Azkaban. It only made her that much more determined to get him out of there. Draco still owed her that date he'd promised, and Hermione certainly wasn't going to be having a candlelight dinner in an Azkaban cell. Hermione knew that her telling him about what she was up to provided Draco with a great deal of comfort in that lonely prison, so she always tried her best to give him that.

**Draco,**

**I am sorry that your situation is not getting any better. I tried to argue with Kingsley, but he was insistent that no Death Eaters deserved special treatment despite your connection to me. So that means Kingsley also knows about us now, though I'm surprised that I was able to keep it from him for this long. I'm still working tirelessly on your case, but I also have my own mission to focus on. I've been splitting my time between your trial and trying to find a way to restore my parents memories. I have someone watching over them in Australia, and I am anxiously waiting for the day I can track them down myself and restore their memories. There is nothing more that I want than to have my parents back. Next to that would be you getting out of Azkaban, of course.**

**Speaking of Kingsley, he had already offered Harry, Ron and myself positions as Aurors. Anyone who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts has been granted automatic admission to training, and while Harry and Ron have jumped at the chance, I'm not too sure about that. For Merlin's sake, we spent nearly our entire adolescence fighting Dark Magic so to be honest, I've almost had enough of that. If anything, I just want to be able to have a normal schooling experience. That, and I want to feel truly qualified for any jobs I get. The last thing that I want is to just be given something simply because of the part I played in the war. That is what's making me want to return to Hogwarts to complete my seventh year, since it would be nice to have a normal year for once.**

**As for you, if the trial is successful, I think you will have to repeat your seventh year anyways as part of your probation. I'm trying to argue that you deserve a chance to prove yourself and that you never really had a choice in what you were forced to do by Voldemort. I'm also glad that you now have your mother for comfort, and there was no way that Harry could not speak out in support of Narcissa after what she did for him, regardless of her intentions. I also gave a little statement, but I think it was Harry's words that truly got through to the panel so I suppose you do owe him a big thank you for that. In regards to your father, I truly don't see what could be done to help him. The only thing that works in his favour is that he did defect in the final battle, even though it was only a last minute decision. If it's any source of comfort, any sentence that he'd get would probably be one of the more lenient ones.**

**There isn't really much to say about what else is going on in my life, really. Ron is still giving me the silent treatment, but Harry said that he'll come around. He just needs to get over me first. You'd be even more surprised about what Harry has done. You should know that he did somewhat defend you after Dumbledore's death by saying that he didn't think you would have killed him. I think Harry is growing up past the point of letting petty rivalries like yours have such an impact on him. The war has changed all of us, but especially Harry. Perhaps you two could even be civil towards each other one day? Ron will probably always be difficult, but I think he will eventually accept it. After all, their opinions are the only ones that really matter to me. I could hardly give a damn about what the rest of the wizarding world thinks. I've just survived a war, so surely I deserve happiness even if it's not with the most ideal person, with that person being you.**

**Missing you,**

**Hermione**

~*•°•*~

Finally, after everything they had to overcome, Draco and Hermione could finally be together. Despite the nerves that had come with Draco's trial, he had been spared the fate of an extended stay in Azkaban, albeit with a few conditions. Firstly, he was required to return to Hogwarts to complete his seventh year and then his magic would be monitored for several years. It might've been frustrating, but anything was better than Azkaban.

So that was how Hermione and Draco found themselves sitting together in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, both of them returning to complete their seventh year. Most people now knew about their relationship, and they were both quite content to let everyone figure it out on their own without making some big spectacle about it.

"What do you think this year will be like?" Draco wondered.

"Hopefully as uneventful as possible," Hermione deadpanned.

Draco snickered, "And to think I didn't think you had a sense of humour, Granger."

Hermione fake-gasped, "Oh, how you wound me with such malice."

Draco sighed, "Everything is going to be different, though."

"It will," Hermione nodded. "I just realised that for the first time since I entered the Wizarding World, I'm going to be doing something without Harry and Ron. It feels strange."

"Hey, I'd be glad to be rid of Potter and Weasley. And at least now they won't be nagging you to do their homework for them," Draco remarked.

"Oh, come on, Draco. Surely you can admit that Harry isn't all that bad. He helped spare you from an Azkaban sentence too after he'd already saved your life," Hermione argued.

"I will never say anything nice about Potter. Surely you must realise that? And Weasley will always be a wanker," Draco insisted.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I guess some things will never change. But what will change about this year is that we won't have to resort to using enchanted books or special boxes to communicate. If I want to talk to you, I can happily approach you wherever I want."

"You know, I always did wonder about how those books worked. I just never really cared that much to investigate it myself," Draco commented.

It was then that Hermione remembered how she hadn't even told Draco about the secrecy of their books. It's not like she had intentionally kept it from him, it was just never something that she thought needed to come up. But now that he was mentioning it, Hermione figured that he had every right to know about how the books worked. After all, they wouldn't have even gotten together if it weren't for those books.

"Well, I was curious enough to investigate it myself," Hermione stated.

"And what did you find?" Draco asked.

"A huge sense of irony," Hermione remarked.

"How is it ironic?" Draco questioned.

Hermione chuckled, "It turns out, those books that were on sale at Scribbulus Writing Implements were a part of a rare set that had been lost to history. I did some snooping around, and it turned out that the four founders of Hogwarts each had their own enchanted set of books. The magic used to create them was so incredibly old and ancient that nobody alive today even knows how they work. There's only a few of those books left in existence."

Draco actually looked quite intrigued by that, "Now that is certainly interesting. I guess I do remember seeing a yellow and blue book in the set as well. I just thought that it was some design on them, but now that you mention it I can see how they relate to the Hogwarts Houses. Though how these books managed to end up in our hands is quite amazing. Out of everyone in the world, it was us who came across them."

"That's what I find ironic about it," Hermione commented. "Our books were made by Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin and it is ironic that we would find those books that would bring us together considering the history between our houses and those two founders."

"I wonder what happened to the other two books then," Draco wondered.

"Well, Mundungus Fletcher actually became useful for once when he gave us some information during our time at Grimmauld Place. I had previously asked him if he knew anything about the books, and it turned out that he had gone to find them himself. He was going to pawn them to make himself rich, and I wasn't going to let those books fall into the wrong hands, so I took them and obliviated that memory from his mind," Hermione explained.

"Damn, Granger. That was almost… Slytherin of you," Draco smirked.

"And I'm assuming that you find that attractive?" Hermione remarked.

"Of course I do. But then I have to ask, where are the books now?" Draco asked.

"They're stowed away somewhere at Grimmauld Place with the rest of my stuff. It's Harry's now, so I know he'll take good care of them," Hermione replied.

"There is something seriously wrong about Potter owning a Black family house," Draco grumbled.

"Hey, it was left to Harry in Sirius' will so Harry has every right to have it," Hermione argued.

"Why would he even want it? My mother told me about my Great Aunt Walburga's portrait and that she was as you would say, horrid," Draco remarked.

"Oh, Walburga's portrait is certainly horrid. But Harry can do whatever he wants with it now. After all, it's not like you and your mother even want the house," Hermione reasoned.

"True, but it's still ironic that Potter of all people would end up owning a notorious Black family house," Draco stated.

"Well, he can create some new memories there just like we can create some new memories at Hogwarts. I look forward to doing that," Hermione smiled.

"You wanna know what I look forward to the most?" Draco smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Snogging in a broom closet?"

Draco snorted, "That, and passing notes in class. You know, for old times' sake."

"We never actually passed notes in class, you know," Hermione pointed out. "And you should know that I would never be the type to do that."

"Can't you just live a little, Granger?" Draco remarked.

"We'll see, if you're lucky," Hermione grinned.

And they certainly were lucky, lucky that they even had this chance together now. It was almost hard for Hermione to believe that after all that time she spent waiting, they now had this time. And Hermione was just going to enjoy it for however long it lasted.

* * *

**And so that begins the first of the bonus updates. I wasn't too sure where I was gonna go with this one after the letters, since those felt too short to post but then I remembered that Hermione never told Draco about how the books worked so I figured that I'd add that in and give them some fun time together. The next three bonus posts will hopefully be coming out shortly.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Despite saying that I would be more likely to update frequently with more time on my hands, all this time has actually made me pretty lazy with my writing since I have more reason to just stay in bed all day, rip. But anyways, I'm just really determined to finish this so I can move onto my other Dramione plots cause I have a boatload of them in the back of my mind with no idea where to start.**

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Hermione had never been more nervous than she currently was in her entire life. The cause of her nerves was currently on the other side of France, so there was hardly anything they could do to comfort her in person now. It was like all those times when Hermione got mad at Draco and she just wanted to be with him even though he was the common cause of a lot of her anger and frustration. But she was hardly angry at him right now. If anything, Hermione was more in love with him than she ever has been because it was the day she had been waiting for. Their wedding day.

After being together for nearly five years, Draco and Hermione were finally tying the knot. Their wedding was to take place on a picturesque site in France at one of the many villa's that the Malfoy family owned in the country. While Hermione was in the Loire Valley, Draco was in Provence as they were now officially under lockdown in order to uphold the tradition of the groom not seeing the bride before the wedding. Hermione had already had fun at her Bachelor party several days ago, and now it was time for her to panic about her impending nuptials.

To say that her and Draco had had an easy relationship would be an understatement. They had faced a lot of public scrutiny considering the fact that Hermione was a war heroine and Draco a Death Eater, and although most of that had subsided there were still a few people that frowned on their relationship. Hermione was just glad that she had her friends support, and that despite their initial hesitance about her relationship with Draco, they had come to accept it. And now was most certainly a time when Hermione could use her friends unwavering support since she was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown the night before her wedding.

It was silly, really. Hermione knew that Draco loved her and would never do anything to intentionally hurt her, but there was still so much that could go wrong. If there was anything that Hermione did too much of, it was overthinking and she was currently doing far too much of that right now. Despite going through and checking everything, Hermione was still feeling her nerves beginning to control and override her logical reasoning. So it was definitely perfect timing when Ginny came in to check on her as Hermione tried resting in her en suite.

"I just came to see how you are doing," Ginny said as she entered the room.

"I could be doing better," Hermione muttered.

"Clearly," Ginny snorted as she took a look around the room. "It looks like a tornado went off in here. Is everything alright, Hermione?"

"No," Hermione groaned as she flopped dramatically onto her bed. "I'm getting married tomorrow."

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?" Ginny pointed out.

"It's just that, there's so much that could go wrong!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Ah, the pre-wedding jitters. I would have thought that you would be above that, Hermione," Ginny remarked.

"So did I," Hermione grumbled ."But no, here they are. Determined to make me rethink everything and feel like my special day is just going to be torn to shreds."

"Hermione, you've worked harder on this wedding than you ever have on anything in your life. And Hermione Grangers plans always work out the way they're supposed to," Ginny reasoned.

"Yeah, but what if just this once I lose my perfect record and it just so happens to be on the most important day of my entire life?" Hermione shrieked.

"Nothing is going to go wrong. It's all going to turn out just how you planned it to," Ginny tried reassuring her.

Hermione groaned, "You weren't even this nervous on your wedding day."

Ginny smiled wistfully as she recalled her and Harry's wedding that had been nearly a year ago. "That's because I trusted that everything would turn out the way that it was supposed to, which it did. Harry was there, my friends and family were there and there was not enough magic in the world that could have made that day anymore magical than it was."

"That's awfully sappy from you," Hermione commented.

"Oh, it was my wedding day! I'm allowed to be sappy about it," Ginny argued. "Now as for you, Hermione Jean Granger. Tomorrow you are marrying former prat Draco Malfoy, and while I am yet to fully understand what you even see in him, I know that he's crazy about you and wants to marry you just as much as you want to marry him. You're going to walk down that aisle and see him there and it is going to be just like you planned it to be, so you mustn't worry."

Hermione sighed, "You really think that it's going to be okay?"

"Really," Ginny insisted.

"And, _former _prat, really?" Hermione remarked. Even though she would be the first to say that her future husband was a far cry from the self-obsessed bully he used to be, it would be wrong to say that he wasn't a bit of a prat at times.

Ginny shrugged, "Well, Malfoy's alright to me but I know Harry and Ron still see him as a prat."

"I hope they're taking good care of him for me," Hermione muttered.

"Speaking of which, apparently Malfoy asked Harry to get this to you so he passed it to me and now I'm giving it to you," Ginny said as she seemingly pulled out a box from nowhere.

"Do you know what it is?" Hermione asked eagerly as she took it.

"How should I know? Apparently Malfoy threatened to hex Harry so bad that our children would feel it if he dared to look inside," Ginny remarked.

"Then it must be special," Hermione grinned.

"And I shall leave you to it, Mione. But I will be here at 7am sharp to help get you ready for your big day," Ginny declared before leaving Hermione alone once again.

Hermione stared at the box in her hands for a few moments, wondering what it was before she realised she could just tear it open and find out. To Hermione's initial annoyance, there were just pieces of paper stuffed inside the box. Hermione was going to put the box away at first, but then she saw writing on the paper. So Hermione eagerly pulled out the first piece of paper and just smiled with delight on recognising Draco's handwriting.

**Hermione,**

**It's the eve of our wedding and I'm not sure how you're feeling but just in case you could use a little something, I put this all together for you. It's what I was working on the other week when you asked me what I was doing and I said that you would find out later. Well, it's later now so here it is.**

Of course Draco had found a way to write to her on the eve of their wedding. One thing that had stayed the same over the course of their relationship was their love of writing to each other. There was just something about getting a letter from Draco that made Hermione's heart jump. Hermione had lost count of how many notes they'd sent to each other over the years, though their first year together officially at Hogwarts had probably been where most of their notes came from. They had passed notes in basically every class that they shared together. Their fingers would just brush against each other's when they passed their notes and it always sent the good kind of shivers through Hermione's veins.

Hermione just knew that a letter from Draco was what she needed to reassure herself, so Hermione was ready to start reading, but she quickly became confused. These letters were most unusual in the fact that they could not be read properly. It was obvious that there was something bigger going on here since the letters appeared as though they were joined together somehow. And that was when Hermione realised that this was meant to be a puzzle of letters, which was exactly what Hermione needed to take her mind off things right now.

"Oh, Draco. You always know just what it is that I need," Hermione chuckled.

This was certainly one way for Hermione to take her mind off the persistent nerves that just didn't seem to listen to her common sense. So Hermione quickly became immersed with solving Draco's puzzle letter so she could find out what he had written her. It was almost amazing how Hermione had come to remember Draco's writing. She had seen it so many times that she could almost forge it herself.

It was definitely helpful to have the task of figuring out this puzzle to distract Hermione from her nerves. It wasn't long until she had practically forgotten that she had been nervous in the first place. So it wasn't long before Hermione did manage to successfully put the puzzle together and once she did, Hermione could not deny that she was feeling pleased with herself. So with the puzzle laid out in front of her, she started carefully reading itt word for word.

**Hermione,**

**It's the night of our wedding and all I can do is think about you. I'm trying things to keep myself occupied as the nerves grow because you have that uncanny ability unlike anyone else to make me nervous. It is hard to believe that we're finally getting married after these years we've spent together. I know it might seem like I'm spoiling my vows to you, but trust me when I say that what I have planned for that is completely different to what I have to say here.**

**I'm not quite sure of how you're handling things in the lead up to our big day, but I hope that this letter can give you some peace of mind if necessary. Everything is fine on my end. Potter and Weasley have only come to annoy me twice, only to threaten me about 'hurting' you, which I have no intention of doing. It's funny how Potter and Weasley still think that they can threaten me when they barely have two brain cells to rub together.**

**Even though it's only been three days since we last saw each other, you've been on my mind more so than ever. I've never been one to dream, but marrying you is certainly one I can tick off my 'bucket list' that you made me do all those year ago. There's still plenty that I want to do, most of which involve you. **

**So if you're worrying about me or anything else, there is no need to. If not, then I can't wait to see you tomorrow. Whatever happens, it will be a memorable day for us because it is for us and nobody else. I've spent months trying to imagine what your wedding dress is going look like but I know that my imagination is not going to match up to the real thing.**

**Counting down the hours until I can see you,**

**Draco.**

That letter was exactly what Hermione had needed. It had provided her with the distraction she needed to ease her nerves and made her even more excited for her imminent wedding. Just know that while she was here, Draco was where he was and thinking of her gave Hermione all the comfort and reassurance that nobody else could. Hermione was even kicking herself for not doing anything like this for Draco, since she had no idea how he would be coping with their wedding.

Nonetheless, the wedding was coming and Hermione could not wait. It had been nearly five years in the making, but she was about to become Hermione Malfoy and there was nothing that had given her this much excitement before. Now if only Hermione could ease her excitement so she could actually get some sleep. After all, she was a bride to be.

* * *

**This one was a piece I struggled with, since I didn't want it to be too short but I didn't want it to drag it out either so I guess that's also why it took me a bit longer to get this out. Anyways, we've just got two pieces left to go and I'm feeling kinda sad about that now.**


	22. Chapter 22

**I'd actually had this chapter written for about a week before publishing it, since I didn't like how short it was compared to the other chapters but I decided to just go ahead and post it anyways. Enjoy the second to last chapter which takes place a few years into the future with married Dramione so I hope you guys enjoy it.**

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Married life had been good for Draco and Hermione in their first two years together. Their honeymoon phase had lasted long enough, and was still going strong even with Hermione pregnant with their first child. It had come as somewhat of a surprise, since they had not planned on having children at this point in time but it was a a welcome one nonetheless. Naturally, Draco had been rather attentive to Hermione during her pregnancy and although it had been sweet at first, it quickly got on her nerves.

So when Draco received an opportunity to travel for his work, Hermione was all-too eager to convince him to go if it meant sparing her from his over-bearing behaviour. Of course Draco had been concerned about Hermione, since her pregnancy hadn't exactly been easy. The early months had been fine, but Hermione was constantly feeling sick and had been warned of the potential for her to have an early delivery in her last trimester.

With Draco being abroad and a worried husband, they had once again resorted to their old method of communication. Their habit of writing to each other certainly hadn't stopped, even when they weren't that far apart. There was just something about receiving a hand-written letter from Draco that always touched Hermione's heart. So while Draco was in Australia, they were sharing letters with their old boxes that still worked flawlessly. Hermione smiled to herself as she received another message from Draco and quickly read it so she could reply.

**Australia's nice and all, but it's not the same as our villa in France. Perhaps we should make a visit there once our little one comes into the world.**

_That would be wonderful. I've missed travelling and experiencing new things. We should definitely take our daughter with us once she is able to travel. I want her to be able to see the world and create memories to last a lifetime._

**Daughter? How do you know that? I thought we agreed to be surprised on her gender. Don't tell me that you found out for yourself.**

_I didn't. It's just my mother's intuition coming through. _

**Ah. My mother also correctly guessed that I would be a boy before she found out for herself. I think she was almost a little disappointed, because I think Mother would have liked to have a little girl to dress up and play around with.**

_Well, I'm going to love our child regardless of their gender._

**I just don't want to make the same mistakes that my parents did.**

Hermione frowned. She knew that next to her health, Draco's biggest concern about her pregnancy was how his performance as a father would be. Draco hardly had the best example growing up, but Hermione had complete faith that he would learn from the mistakes his parents made and he the best father he could be.

When it came to Draco's parents, they still hadn't exactly warmed up to her completely. Hermione hadn't been there to see Lucius' reaction to their relationship, though Draco told her that he had been rather nonchalant about it. As for Narcissa, Hermione's mother-in-law had been frosty to put it kindly. Despite the Malfoy's best attempts at proving that they had moved passed their pureblood supremacy, they still weren't thrilled about a muggleborn marrying into their family and 'soiling' their pure bloodline. At least now Narcissa was somewhat warming up to Hermione after she had announced her pregnancy, while Lucius still had nothing to do with her.

_You are not your parents, Draco._

**But I'm still part of them. I can still think of every time they failed me and let me down. The thing is, it wasn't even like they were trying to fail me. It just happened. So what if despite my best efforts, I still fail as a father and our child grows to resent me just like I still kind of resent my own parents?**

_That won't happen, Draco. I won't let it. You are going to be an amazing father. We are going to be wonderful parents. Our child is going to fill in that missing piece of our family and they will love us as much as we love them._

**Thank you, Hermione. You always know what to say. Or write.**

_That's what I'm here for._

**Have you been feeling okay since I've been gone? You're not over-doing it, are you?**

_I'm following the Healers orders, Draco. You don't have to worry about me because I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself._

**I know that you are… I just worry about you.**

_And you know that I appreciate your concern, but you must know that it is not necessary. If there was a reason to be concerned, don't you think I would tell you?_

**I don't know, you were pretty eager to get rid of me before I left.**

_Draco, even you have to admit that you had been far too suffocating for me. I think we needed this time of separation to clear our heads. You'll be back home in two weeks, anyways._

**And I'm counting down every hour and minute until that happens.**

As much as Hermione was enjoying having some time to herself before the baby came, she still missed Draco. And Hermione couldn't help but love that last message that he just sent her because no matter how hard he tried to deny it, Hermione was under no uncertain terms that her husband was a romantic at heart.

In the days that followed, Hermione kept messaging Draco at every available opportunity, and she even found herself missing Draco more than she thought she would. Perhaps Hermione had been a little too hasty in encouraging him to take this business trip. Now that Hermione was working from home and on bed rest most of the time, there wasn't much company for her except for the occasional visits from her friends.

_I hate feeling like a prisoner in my own house. _

**You could always sit on the veranda or go outside and enjoy the view with some fresh air.**

_It hardly feels worth it since then I'd have to get up. Ginny didn't make pregnancy sound as bad as it actually is._

**Weren't you relishing in your pregnancy in your first trimester?**

_That was before it became an unbearable nightmare. I'm tired of being in pain and waking up with the urge to vomit._

**And it'll only get worse once the baby actually arrives and we have to put up with it's constant crying.**

_If I were next to you right now I would slap you._

**Then I'm glad I'm in Australia.**

_Not for long._

**Why don't we talk about something other than how unbearable pregnancy is like… I don't know? Baby names?**

_We are not naming the baby Scorpius if it's a boy._

**I didn't even say that! But I still don't get why you are so against that name. What's so bad about it?**

_It's just so… bleh. And just because you and I have unique names doesn't mean that we should punish our child with an unbearable name._

**I think our names are just fine. And besides, wizard names always have more of a unique flare to them compared to the generic muggle names out there.**

_I hated my name growing up. I always got picked on for it and the fact that it's such a mouthful hardly helped. There are hardly any good nicknames for Hermione._

**The only nickname I ever got was Drake, which was okay I suppose but Pansy always butchered it with add-ons like 'Drakey-poo.'**

_You cant even get a nickname from Scorpius._

**What about Scorp?**

_Still not a fan._

**Okay… What about girls names?**

_Now that's something I can enjoy talking about. I love Lyra, but I'm also impartial to Cordelia or Alya. _

**You know, we don't have to follow the Black family tradition.**

_I know, but I've had fun researching constellations and what not so I'm not just going to let that go to waste. Besides, there are some of these names that I actually like and don't sound so horrid. _

**The Black family tradition isn't just limited to stars. I know that a few of them were named after other astrological stuff like comets and what not.**

_I know. I found another name that I liked amongst the asteroids, Aurelia._

**Hm, I suppose that isn't too horrid. And it's not too muggle but not too magical either, I suppose.**

_I think I could name just about every star or asteroid in the galaxy after all the research I've done over the past eight months._

**I'm just glad it's given you something else to focus your energy on other than me.**

Hermione would have written back a smart retort to that comment, but a painful jab in her stomach stopped her. She had been feeling that a lot lately, and would not have been alarmed if not for the feeling that came after that. The feeling of her water breaking.

_Draco. It broke. My water broke._

**What!? Please tell me this is a joke.**

_Do you think that I would seriously joke about something like this? _

**But you're not due for another month! This can't be happening… Can't you just… push it back in?**

_I know that you're not a Healer, Draco, but surely you must have enough common sense to know that that's not how delivery works!_

**I know, I know! Just… Floo for mother or someone and I'll try and get there as quickly as I can.**

_You better._

That was the end of their conversation then, as Hermione quickly had to call for someone to come and help her. Figures that her water would break the one day she was actually alone and two weeks before Draco was scheduled to come home. So Hermione quickly sent off a message with her Patronus in the hopes that someone would get here quick enough to help her. But despite her nerves, Hermione couldn't help but be excited because after all, she was about to be a mother and she couldn't wait for that moment when she would finally be able to hold her child in her arms and love them with all her might.

* * *

**You can't tell me that Hermione wouldn't just love researching all kinds of baby names from constellations so I had to showcase her inner nerd here. Like every Dramione shipper, I do have my own headcanons for the their kids and I don't know why, but I just love the idea of them having a girl first since having Hermione in the family would basically just break any old traditions like the Malfoy family being dominated by men. But then there's still the part of me that loves the idea of protective big brother Scorpius, so I'm quite torn about that. Anyways, there's just one more chapter left after this and that'll be it for this story.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Well it's been a rough couple of days for me so writing this final chapter was a good distraction. But be warned, it might be a bit of a tear-jerker. I've already been emotional enough so I figured why not go ahead and write a sad ending too. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this final chapter.**

* * *

Hermione sighed as she entered her house. Her half-empty, cavernous house. She had grown so used to Draco always being there to greet her, only now he would never be there to welcome her home again. For the first time in her entire life at age ninety-four, Hermione felt truly alone. How could she not, when her husband was now gone?

Losing Draco had been so sudden and unexpected. He hadn't suffered a long, agonising death like his father had. Only two weeks ago Hermione had woken up like she did every morning, only for Draco to not wake up at all. He had died naturally in his sleep, though it all still felt somewhat unnatural to Hermione. Over the past few decades, Hermione had lost other people close to her, and she had been dreading the time she and Draco would be torn apart like this. She just hoped that they would pass on together, so that neither one of them would have to go on without the other.

For nearly seven decades, they had built a life together. They'd had four beautiful children, followed by precious grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Her children had been invaluable support during this time, but at the same time they were a painful reminder of what she had lost since Hermione had always seen more of Draco in them.

With Draco now gone, Hermione had their old house to themselves. They had moved into a regular muggle house nearly twenty years ago once their oldest grandchild moved into their bigger mansion. Hermione's oldest daughter had tried talking her into moving in with her, but Hermione insisted that she was just fine on her own. Although she was six years shy of turning one hundred, Hermione still felt like she was capable of taking care of herself. Besides, as much as it pained Hermione to deal with these reminders of Draco, she'd rather grieve on her own than make it any harder for her children.

Hermione tightly gripped onto the locket that Draco had given her for their fiftieth anniversary. It was hard to believe that they had even been together for that long and then some. Even when she was younger, Hermione had tried envisioning what her future life would be like, though she had never pictured herself being happily married for seventy years. Hermione was proud of everything that they had accomplished during their time together. Despite having a very successful career of her own at the Ministry for three decades, Hermione felt like she had done more with Draco than she could've figured doing anywhere else.

Following her retirement from the Ministry, Hermione changed her career path by becoming a historian and philosopher. She even dabbled in metal-charming, with her contributions resulting in ground-breaking progress in the wizarding world. But what had to be Hermione's greatest accomplishment was discovering the long lost magic of the conjoined books. Despite searching for her answers for years, it wasn't until Hermione threw herself into her career as a magical historian that she was able to find the answers that she was looking for. Of course it wouldn't have been possible without Draco either, and the two received lifetime achievements for their contributions to the wizarding world.

But without Draco, Hermione felt as though there was truly nothing left for her to do. There had been nothing that she had done without him for nearly her entire life. Now Hermione was just content to wait out the rest of her time until she could be reunited with him.

The first few weeks after Draco's passing had been the hardest, as Hermione had been unable to resist going through his old belongings despite the old memories it brought up. Some of those memories, Hermione had even thought that she'd forgotten about them, only to be reminded by seeing mementos of their time together. It wasn't until Hermione thought that she had sorted through everything that she thought this was it. That was, until she came across a box hidden underneath their wardrobe.

That was only a place where Hermione and Draco had stored their most precious items so that they would be secure, and Hermione thought that she knew what was in there, until she came across a folded piece of paper in the corner. Curiously, Hermione pulled it out and opened it, though she had to stifle back a sob as she recognised Draco's handwriting. This was the place where they had also hidden all of their letters, though it seemed like Draco had added a new one since the date at the top implied that it had only been written a few short months ago. Not sure of what to expect, Hermione held her breath as she read what she knew would be her last letter from Draco.

**Hermione,**

**If you are reading this letter, then it means that I am no longer with you. But if you are reading this letter and I am still with you, I suggest you stop reading now and tell me you found this letter so I can obliviate it from your memories. Now that that's out of the way, I suppose I should say why I'm writing this letter. I'm writing this letter because I fear that my time is near, and yes that means what you probably think it means.**

**These past few days, I just haven't been feeling like I have much life left in me. I feel weaker, more tired and it has gotten to the point where I think that every time I close my eyes will be the last time. You're probably wondering why am I writing you this letter instead of just telling you this? Well, the truth is that I do not want to worry you. I know that if I voice my concerns, you will be concerned as well and I do not wish to cause you any stress.**

**My hope is that if my feeling is correct and that my time is slowly coming that this letter may provide you with some form of comfort to know that I had prepared myself for this. I'm sure that I do not need to say how much comfort your writing has given me in the past, so it is about time that I returned the favour. Although I know that you know how much I have appreciated our ways of communication over the years, I don't think that you know just how much these letters have truly helped me.**

**When we first started writing to one another, I was just a terrified sixteen-year-old who didn't expect to survive the war. I had already accepted my fate, but then one day, I received the most surprising message. A message from no one, it was, but it was a message that changed my life. It was those messages from you that gave me hope in my darkest hours, since relying on a ghost for comfort was hardly doing anything for me at all.**

**Despite my refusal to accept your help, you kept trying anyways, and I am so glad that you did not give up on me like I already had. I appreciated every letter when I was stuck in my own house with him and while I was awaiting my trial at Azkaban. Now I hope that this letter, and possibly even the others, may give you some comfort with me gone.**

**Until we meet again,**

**Draco**

When Hermione had finished reading the letter, she was just about ready to burst into tears. It was almost disheartening for Hermione to discover that Draco had almost been expecting himself to die, which was reminiscent of the Draco she first tried to help when she was a desperate sixteen-year-old girl trying to save him. Only now, Draco had lived a full life and he was seemingly at peace with his fate rather than waiting for it to happen.

It was only fitting that after their relationship began through letters this was what Draco would leave her with now that he was gone. Although nothing would ever be able to fill the hole that was now in Hermione's heart, this letter and all the others would be enough to provide her with comfort to move on. Thinking of the letters, Hermione looked down in the box where she knew the rest of them were and she couldn't help but look back on them and reminisce.

After feeling so down these past few days, it helped for Hermione to look back on their letters over the years. There were so many of them since there was hardly ever a time when they wouldn't write to each other. One of Hermione's favourite memories was on their twentieth anniversary when Draco had been unable to be there with her on the day, so he had left her an absurd amount of notes in various places, with some of them being more suggestive than others. Hermione could still remember the borderline horrified look on Harry's face when he accidently stumbled upon one of the more explicit notes. He hadn't been able to look at Draco and Hermione the same way for ages after that.

There were plenty of other memorable occasions over the years, like when Hermione gave birth early right when she was writing to Draco. Their children had always asked for stories about their relationship, but that one would have to be their eldest daughter's favourite, since it was her birth that followed. It was amazing how many chapters Hermione and Draco's life together had, with each one being even more eventful than the last. There was never a dull moment between them, and Hermione had treasured every moment that they had together.

Now, all of these letters were all that Hermione had left of Draco. He was now buried, and Hermione was now alone. It would be next to impossible for her to think of him now without there being a twinge of sadness. But despite that, Hermione would always look back on their shared memories with fondness and she would always be thankful for the time that they did have together. So until Hermione joined Draco, she was content to remain with their memories and of course, their messages that started from no one, but would go on to be the beginning of their life together.

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**And so that marks the end of the story. This was my first major piece for Dramione, and I'm reasonably satisfied with how it all turned out. **** I'm almost tempted to give a glimpse of what this story was like from Draco's perspective, since this largely focuses whole story is basically from Hermione's point of view. Though if I am to do that, it will probably end up being something small like an epilogue of sort, but definitely not a full story. ****Of course I cannot end this without thanking those who have read this story and left their reviews because any feedback that I have received has meant a lot to me. As for future stories, I previously mentioned that I have plenty ideas in the back of my mind, though I have currently narrowed them down to three potential picks. Until then, check out my other WIP Little Bear, which is mostly about my OC, but there will be plenty of Dramione on the side for you to enjoy.**


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